UK removes Syria's HTS from 'terrorist' organizations list
LONDON
The U.K. has removed Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from its list of banned "terrorist" organizations, after the group ousted Bashar al-Assad last December and took control of government.
The move comes after the United States announced in July it would revoke HTS's "terrorist" designation.
HTS was proscribed by the U.K. in 2017 over its former links to Al-Qaeda.
"The government's decision to remove Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from the list of proscribed terrorist organisations will mean closer engagement with the new Syrian government," the British foreign and interior ministries said in a joint statement.
Last December, an armed coalition led by HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa overthrew Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, ending half a century of rule by the latter's family.
The U.K. government said the removal order, which has been laid in parliament, will also help it work with Syria to "eliminate the Assad regime's chemical weapons programme."
HTS, previously known as Al-Nusra Front, was formerly the branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria, but it broke ties with the jihadist group in 2016 and sought to soften its image.
As of 2017, HTS claimed control of swathes of the province of Idlib, in Syria's northwest, and went on to develop a civil administration in the area, amid accusations of brutal abuses against dissenters.
In January, after ousting Assad, the new authorities announced the dissolution of all armed factions, with some groups, including HTS, being integrated into bodies such as the country's new police force.
The interim government has thawed diplomatic relations with several other countries, with Sharaa — now interim president — holding talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, in recent months.
Britain's then-Foreign Minister David Lammy met Sharaa on a visit to Syria in July, where he announced the re-establishment of full diplomatic relations more than a decade after cutting ties.
