Michelle Nichols
Yahoo News, July 10, 2025
“The status of foreign fighters has been one of the most fraught issues hindering Syria’s rapprochement with the West. But the U.S. has given its blessing to a plan by Syria’s new leaders to integrate foreign fighters into the army.”
United Nations sanctions monitors have seen no “active ties” this year between Al Qaeda and the Islamist group leading Syria’s interim government, an unpublished U.N. report said, a finding that could strengthen an expected U.S. push for removing U.N. sanctions on Syria.
The report, seen by Reuters on Thursday, is likely to be published this month.
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham is Al Qaeda’s former branch in Syria but broke ties in 2016. The group, previously known as al-Nusra Front, led the rebellion that toppled President Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive in December, and HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa became Syria’s interim president.
The report comes as diplomats expect the United States to seek the removal of U.N. sanctions on HTS and Sharaa, who has said he wants to build an inclusive and democratic Syria.
“Many tactical-level individuals hold more extreme views than … Sharaa and Interior Minister Anas Khattab, who are generally regarded as more pragmatic than ideological,” the U.N. report said. It covered the six months to June 22 and relied on contributions and assessments from U.N. member states.
Since May 2014, HTS has been subject to U.N. sanctions including a global assets freeze and arms embargo. A number of HTS members also face sanctions like a travel ban and asset freeze – including Sharaa, who has been listed since July 2013. ….SOURCE