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UK removes terrorism designation for Syria’s HTS

UK removes terrorism designation for Syria’s HTS
Syria’s interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa delivers a speech during the unveiling of the country’s new national emblem at the presidential palace in Damascus, July 3, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 10 sec ago

UK removes terrorism designation for Syria’s HTS

UK removes terrorism designation for Syria’s HTS
  • President Donald Trump’s administration revoked the US foreign terrorist organization designation for HTS in July
  • After the end of the Assad’s autocratic government last year, then-HTS leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa became Syria’s president

LONDON: The British government on Tuesday removed Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), the group which spearheaded the Syrian rebel alliance that helped oust President Bashar Assad, from its list of banned terrorist organizations.
HTS, a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, was proscribed in 2017, meaning that Britain designated it as a terrorist group, making it illegal to support or join it.
The government said in December last year that it could rethink the proscription, while President Donald Trump’s administration revoked the US foreign terrorist organization designation for HTS in July.
Britain had joined other nations in welcoming the end of the Assad’s autocratic government, which marked one of the biggest turning points for the Middle East in generations and followed years of civil war. Then-HTS leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa became Syria’s president.
The British government said in a statement that removing HTS from the list of proscribed organizations would allow for closer engagement with the new Syrian government. It added it would also allow cooperation with Syria to eliminate Assad’s chemical weapons program.
“The UK will continue to press for genuine progress and hold the Syrian government accountable for its actions in fighting terrorism and restoring stability in Syria and the wider region,” the government said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Syria’s Economy Minister Mohammad Nidal Al-Shaar told Reuters at a conference in London that he hoped US sanctions against the country would be formally lifted in the coming months.


Syria hopes for full lifting of US sanctions in coming months

Syria hopes for full lifting of US sanctions in coming months
Updated 12 sec ago

Syria hopes for full lifting of US sanctions in coming months

Syria hopes for full lifting of US sanctions in coming months
  • “We have to do some push and some lobbying to continue with this path that started in the right direction,” Syria’s economy minister said

LONDON: Syria hopes US sanctions will be fully lifted in the coming months and has started the process of restructuring billions of dollars of debt amassed during Bashar Assad’s rule, Economy Minister Mohammad Nidal Al-Shaar said.
President Donald Trump ordered the lifting of most US sanctions on Syria in May after meeting President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, but the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 that authorizes them remains US law.
“We have to do some push and some lobbying to continue with this path that started in the right direction, and we’re hoping by the end of the year the bill (to scrap the act) will reach the president (Trump), and hopefully he’ll sign it,” Al-Shaar told Reuters during a conference in London.
“And once that happens, then we are sanctions-free,” he said on the sidelines of the Future Resilience Forum.
HOPES FOR A REDUCTION OF US TARIFFS
The act’s removal will enable foreign investment, restore access to international banking and help revive key industries.
Al-Shaar hopes Washington will reduce its 41 percent tariffs on trade with Syria and that US firms will invest in the country as the economy opens up.
Gulf countries have pledged support and Chinese firms have committed hundreds of millions of dollars, Al-Shaar said, for “big” new cement, plastic and sugar factories.
The government is on course to introduce a new currency early next year, he said.
Sources said in August that new banknotes would be issued in December, removing two zeros — and Assad’s face — from the currency, to try to restore public confidence.
Syria’s pound has lost over 99 percent of its value since the civil war began in 2011 but has been broadly stable in recent months.
“We’re consulting with many entities, international organizations, experts, and eventually it will come very soon,” Al-Shaar said of the currency.
RECONSTRUCTION COSTS
A World Bank report on Tuesday estimated the cost of Syria’s reconstruction at $216 billion, saying the figure was a “conservative best estimate.”
Al-Shaar said the amount could be over 1 trillion dollars if the rebuild brought infrastructure up to date but would be spread over a long time, with the rebuilding of houses alone likely to take 6-7 years.
Asked about plans to overhaul Syria’s debt burden, Al-Shaar said the process had started already.
“The sovereign debt that we have, which is not very big actually, will be restructured,” he said, adding that Syria would be asking for grace periods and other relief.
Assad left Syria in disarray when he was ousted last December and fighting continued in the oil-producing north until a ceasefire was struck this month.
“I’m hopeful that the next maybe few weeks, or maybe a month or two, we will reach some kind of an agreement with those who are controlling that part of Syria,” Al-Shaar said.
“Once that happens, I think we will have greater ability, financial, natural resources, to really start meaningful (investment) projects,” he said, predicting a “quantum leap in our GDP.”


UN warns severe danger from unexploded ordinance in Gaza will persist for years to come

UN warns severe danger from unexploded ordinance in Gaza will persist for years to come
Updated 30 min 3 sec ago

UN warns severe danger from unexploded ordinance in Gaza will persist for years to come

UN warns severe danger from unexploded ordinance in Gaza will persist for years to come
  • UN Mine Action Service documents many cases of civilians injured by explosions as they return to war-ravaged areas amid ceasefire, including 5 children last week
  • The agency has recorded 328 incidents in Gaza since October 2023 in which people were hurt or killed by explosive devices, though the true number is likely much higher

NEW YORK CITY: The UN Mine Action Service has warned of the severe threat posed by unexploded ordnance in Gaza, as displaced communities and aid workers begin to return to areas ravaged by two years of relentless Israeli bombardment.
Luke David Irving, the chief of UNMAS in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, highlighted the ongoing dangers posed by these explosive remnants of war.
“As communities and humanitarian personnel now move through affected areas, the explosive risk is incredibly high,” said Irving, speaking in Jerusalem.
“We know from decades of experience that when many other conflicts end, explosive ordnance continue to maim and kill. Gaza is no exception.”
His team has documented many cases of injuries when people encountered unexploded ordnance, he added, including five children who were hurt last week, two of them seriously.
“It is one of hundreds of stories of people, often children, killed and suffering life-changing injuries at the hands of these dangerous items.”
Since October 2023, UNMAS has recorded 328 incidents in Gaza in which people were injured or killed by unexploded ordnance. However, the actual number is likely much higher.
“We expect that this figure is significantly underreported,” Irving said. “More, and many more, people have been injured or killed by ordnance littering Gaza over the past two years.”
UNMAS teams have so far identified 560 items of explosive ordnance in accessible parts of Gaza but warned the full extent of the contamination will remain unknown until more comprehensive surveys can be conducted.
“We expect to find many more items in the coming weeks as we can access more areas under the ceasefire,” Irving added.
The threat posted by unexploded devices is expected to persist for months and years to come, posing risks to residents as they return to their neighborhoods to salvage whatever belongings they can, and children play in affected zones.
Humanitarian workers also face significant danger as they venture into previously inaccessible locations, and Irving stressed the important need to remove explosive devices.
“Humanitarian mine action is indispensable to pave the way for aid delivery and any recovery and reconstruction,” he said.
UNMAS has already reached an estimated 460,000 people in Gaza in its efforts to help communities remain safe, through in-person risk-education campaigns in shelters, health centers and within areas affected by the conflict. Its workers have distributed more than 400,000 flyers, stickers and other awareness materials since March 2025. But much more remains to be done.
“We need to reach the entire population of Gaza with these messages to mitigate the risk,” Irving said.
UNMAS also carries out technical assessments of critical infrastructure, including roads, health centers, water facilities, bakeries and agricultural areas, to help ensure the safety of humanitarian operations. These assessments have also assisted with early recovery efforts, including the clearance of an estimated 50 to 60 million tonnes of debris potentially harboring explosive devices.
Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, UNMAS has received nearly 100 requests for explosives-clearance support, about 10 a day on average, as a result of which efforts are being made to bring more technical personnel into Gaza to scale up operations.
However, longer-term recovery will depend on securing approval for the widespread deployment of critical disposal equipment, Irving said.
“We ask that this equipment gets brought in for the wider sector, and this will enable the longer-term recovery of Gaza,” he added.
Irving thanked donors for their ongoing support for his agency, and emphasized the urgent need for the expansion of humanitarian explosives-clearance action as Gaza moves towards recovery.


Tunisian city on general strike over factory pollution

Tunisian city on general strike over factory pollution
Updated 21 October 2025

Tunisian city on general strike over factory pollution

Tunisian city on general strike over factory pollution
  • The plant, inaugurated in 1972, processes phosphate to make fertilizers
  • “Everything is closed in Gabes,” said Saoussen Nouisser, a local representative of Tunisia’s main labor union

GABES, Tunisia: Workers in the southern Tunisian city of Gabes launched a general strike on Tuesday following weeks of protest over a chemical factory residents blame for a spike in serious health issues.
Thousands have recently rallied in the city of some 400,000 inhabitants to demand the closure of a state-run phosphate processing plant which they say is behind a rise in gas poisonings after it ramped up production.
The plant, inaugurated in 1972, processes phosphate to make fertilizers, and some of the gases and waste it discharges into the open air and Mediterranean are radioactive and can cause cancer, researchers have found.
“Everything is closed in Gabes,” said Saoussen Nouisser, a local representative of Tunisia’s main labor union, UGTT, which called the general strike.
“We’re all angry at the catastrophic environmental situation in our marginalized city,” she told AFP.
Over 200 people have been hospitalized in recent weeks for respiratory distress and gas poisoning, according to authorities and NGOs.
Videos circulated online of children seemingly having breathing issues last week pushed thousands to rally in the coastal city.
Police have used tear gas to disperse the crowd at some demonstrations, with the city seeing clashes between residents and security forces sometimes at night.
Dozens were arrested over the weekend.
National Guard spokesman Houcem Eddine Jebabli told local media that protesters have used “over 800 Molotov cocktails” targeting security forces, adding there were cases of “robbery and looting.”
In 2017, the Tunisian government promised to gradually shut down the factory, but earlier this year authorities said they would instead ramp up production at the plant.
President Kais Saied had long vowed to revive the sector hindered by unrest and underinvestment, calling phosphate a “pillar of the national economy.”
Authorities have said “urgent measures” were underway to address pollution in Gabes as the government called on Chinese companies to help manage the plant’s waste.
Equipment Minister Salah Zouari said they would help “control gas emissions” and “prevent the discharge of phosphogypsum into the sea.”
The solid waste contains radioactive elements, which also impact soil quality and groundwater.


Egyptian intelligence chief meets with Netanyahu for Gaza talks

Egypt’s intelligence head Hassan Rashad (C) is pictured on the sidelines of a summit meeting on Gaza.
Egypt’s intelligence head Hassan Rashad (C) is pictured on the sidelines of a summit meeting on Gaza.
Updated 21 October 2025

Egyptian intelligence chief meets with Netanyahu for Gaza talks

Egypt’s intelligence head Hassan Rashad (C) is pictured on the sidelines of a summit meeting on Gaza.
  • Egyptian spy chief will also meet with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who is currently in Israel
  • Rashad’s trip to Jerusalem comes more than a week into a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas

JERUSALEM: Egypt’s intelligence head Hassan Rashad met Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Tuesday for talks aimed at reinforcing a fragile US-backed ceasefire in Gaza.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his professional team met with the head of Egyptian intelligence at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
“During the meeting, they discussed advancing President Trump’s plan, Israel-Egypt relations, strengthening peace between the countries, as well as other regional issues,” the statement added, referring to a Gaza roadmap presented by US President Donald Trump that included the initial truce.
The Egyptian spy chief will also meet with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who is currently in Israel, Egyptian state-linked news outlet Extra News reported.
Rashad’s trip to Jerusalem comes more than a week into a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas, under a deal brokered in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh.
It coincides with a visit by US Vice President JD Vance, also to shore up the ceasefire. Vance is expected to meet special envoys Witkoff and Jared Kushner and US military experts monitoring the truce.
According to Israeli media reports Vance will also meet Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu on Wednesday in Jerusalem.


EU criticized after pausing sanctions on Israel

EU criticized after pausing sanctions on Israel
Updated 21 October 2025

EU criticized after pausing sanctions on Israel

EU criticized after pausing sanctions on Israel
  • Bloc’s foreign policy chief: Context has changed after Trump peace plan
  • Ex-adviser: ‘This is exactly the moment when you need to keep the pressure on’

LONDON: Former European officials have criticized the EU for pausing sanctions against the Israeli government, The Guardian reported on Tuesday.

The pause came in response to US President Donald Trump’s peace efforts in the Middle East.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, after meeting the bloc’s foreign ministers on Monday, announced a pause on efforts to suspend preferential trade with Israel. Sanctions against figures responsible for driving the Gaza war were also paused.

Kallas said since last month, when the measures were proposed, the context has changed. Though “divergent views” were offered at the ministerial meeting, officials agreed that “we don’t move with the measures now, but we don’t take them off the table either because the situation is fragile,” she added.

Associate EU director at Human Rights Watch, Claudio Francavilla, said European governments are still protecting Israeli authorities from accountability.

Responding to the remarks by Kallas, he said: “What may have changed so far is the scale and the intensity of Israel’s atrocity crimes in Gaza; but its unlawful occupation and crimes of apartheid, forced displacement, torture and oppression of Palestinians continue unabated.”

Two former senior European figures also criticized the decision to pause the introduction of sanctions.

Former EU representative to the Palestinian territories, Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, told The Guardian that Kallas has missed “the point” of legal accountability.

“Sanctions are not just a measure to induce or coerce a third party to change or adjust its behaviour,” he said.

“Restrictive measures are part of the tools the EU has given itself to react to breaches of both European and international law.”

In June, the bloc concluded that Israel had breached its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

Lawyers have also said the EU must ensure Israeli compliance with the International Court of Justice’s non-binding opinion from 2024 that calls for the end of the occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Last week, Burgsdorff co-organized the signing of a statement by 414 former top officials that urged immediate European action “against spoilers and extremists on both sides.”

The action should target those who have jeopardized “the establishment of a future Palestinian state,” the statement said.

The EU ditching its sanctions efforts against Israel would be the worst possible outcome, said Nathalie Tocci, a former adviser to two EU foreign policy high representatives.

“That is the last thing that we should be doing, because this is exactly the moment when you need to keep the pressure on,” she told The Guardian.

“Because we all know that it’s certainly not a foregone conclusion that this (Trump) plan will be implemented.

“I fear that … European governments and institutions will be … reverting back to the sort of old, familiar patterns.”

Substantial pro-Palestine protest movements in EU member states had spurred the bloc to take action against Israel.

At a summit on Thursday, European leaders are set to discuss the Gaza war, with a divide expected between traditional advocates of Palestine — Spain and Ireland — and pro-Israel governments such as those in Hungary and the Czech Republic.

EU officials are pushing for the bloc to be represented on Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza.

Burgsdorff said: “We need to work on a very robust UN mandate, a mandate which allows international partners to field soldiers, security forces to ensuring or to ensure the security in the Gaza Strip.”