Syria welcomes US move to remove it from blacklist

DAMASCUS: Damascus welcomed a US announcement that it would remove Syria from its list of “state sponsors of terrorism”, a move that one economist told AFP opened the door to economic recovery and foreign investment.

“A dark page in Syria’s history has been turned,” foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani wrote on X.

The US announced on Wednesday that it would remove Syria from its blacklist of countries it accuses of supporting terrorism, a designation it placed on Syria nearly five decades ago and which had curbed investment in the country.

The Syrian foreign ministry called the move “an important development in the course of Syrian-American relations, which are based on dialogue, mutual respect and shared interests”.

The US decision “paves the way to boost investment, accelerate economic recovery and reintegrate Syria into the global economy,” Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed Barnieh said.

State secretary Marco Rubio notified Congress on Wednesday of the long-expected move, which will be effective in 45 days unless lawmakers take the unlikely step of blocking it.

It came as president Donald Trump met on the sidelines of a Nato summit in Turkey with Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The delisting is a “pivotal shift from an economic standpoint”, academic and economic adviser Ziad Arbash told AFP.

“This… removes the biggest legal barrier to Syria’s integration into the global financial and commercial system.”

The US president began lifting sanctions against Syria a year ago.

However, Arbash said that step was insufficient.

“Even transferring a small amount of money from Europe to Syria still takes about three weeks, with complicated procedures,” as most international banks view the country as high-risk.

“Syrians also faced difficulties accessing US software and platforms, such as Netflix, Zoom and ChatGPT,” he said.

The US has listed Syria as a “state sponsor of terrorism” since 1979.

This is “a positive message to the Syrian people and to the international economic community”, central bank governor Mohamad Safwat Raslan said.