Syria welcomes the permanent repeal of sweeping US sanctions

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s government and its allies on Friday welcomed the final lifting of the most draconian sanctions imposed on the country in recent decades.

The U.S. Congress imposed the so-called Caesar Act sanctions on Syria’s government and financial system in 2019 to punish then-President Bashar Assad for human rights abuses during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war that began in 2011.

After Assad was ousted in a lightning rebel offensive in December 2024, advocates — including some who had previously lobbied for the imposition of the sanctions — pushed to have the penalties removed. They argued that the sanctions were preventing international investors from launching reconstruction projects and blocking Syria from rebuilding its battered economy and infrastructure.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who had previously lifted the penalties temporarily by executive order, signed off on the final repeal late Thursday after Congress passed it as part of the country’s annual defense spending bill.

Some lawmakers had pushed for making the repeal conditional on steps by the new Sunni Islamist-dominated Syrian government to protect religious minorities, among other measures. In the end, the sanctions were repealed without conditions but with a requirement for periodic reports to Congress on Syria’s progress on issues including minority rights and counterterrorism measures.

A group of 134 Republican U.S. House members issued a statement Friday calling for sanctions to be reimposed if the Syrian government does not show progress. It said the House Foreign Affairs Committee would hold a hearing in early 2026 focused on the treatment of religious minorities.

Syria’s foreign ministry in a statement Friday thanked the U.S. for the repeal of sanctions and said it will “contribute to alleviating the burdens on the Syrian people and open the way for a new phase of recovery and stability.”

It called for Syrian businesspeople and foreign investors to “explore investment opportunities and participate in reconstruction,” the cost of which the World Bank has estimated at $216 billion.

Central Bank Governor Abdulkader Husrieh said in a statement that the Caesar Act repeal will facilitate the country's reintegration in the international financial system by allowing it to seek a sovereign credit rating.

“Syria will likely start with a low rating, which is normal for countries emerging from conflict,” he said. “The real value lies in the benchmark set by the rating and the road map it provides for improvement.”

Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, regional allies of the new Syrian government led by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, also welcomed the move. Al-Sharaa thanked the leaders of all three countries, along with Trump, in a speech celebrating the end of the sanctions.

“We hope that this step will contribute to strengthening stability, security and prosperity in Syria by further promoting international cooperation toward the country’s reconstruction and development,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said in a statement.

The Saudi foreign ministry commended "the significant and positive role played by US President Donald Trump” in lifting the sanctions.

Trump previously said that he had moved to remove the penalties at the urging of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto ruler, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Also on Friday, the United Kingdom — which had previously removed its own broad sanctions against the Syrian government and financial institutions — imposed new sanctions on organizations and individuals it said were “involved in violence against civilians” in Syria.

They include four people affiliated with Assad’s government in either a military or financial role as well as two people and three armed groups affiliated with the military of the new Syrian government who were allegedly responsible for attacks on civilians during sectarian violence on Syria’s coast earlier this year.

Clashes erupted in March after a group of Assad loyalists attacked security forces. They spiraled into revenge killings as militants from Syria’s Sunni majority — some of them officially affiliated with the new government’s security forces — targeted members of the Alawites sect to which Assad belongs, regardless of whether they were involved in the insurgency. Hundreds of civilians were killed.

Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, greets people as he attends celebrations marking the first anniversary of the ousting of former President Bashar Assad in Damascus, Syria, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki) I

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani court convicted and sentenced imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi on Saturday to 17 years in prison after finding them guilty of retaining and selling state gifts, officials and his party said.

The couple pleaded not guilty when they were indicted last year. They were accused of selling the gifts, including jewelry from Saudi Arabia’s government, at prices far below their market value while he was in office.

Prosecutors said Khan and his wife declared the value of the gifts at a little over $10,000, far below their actual market value of $285,521, allowing them to purchase the items at a reduced price.

Under Pakistani law, for government officials and politicians to keep gifts received from foreign dignitaries, they must buy them at the assessed market value and declare any proceeds earned from selling them.

Khan’s spokesperson, Zulfiquar Bukhari, said the verdict in the graft case ignored basic principles of justice. In a statement, he said that the “criminal liability was imposed without proof of intent, gain, or loss, relying instead on a retrospective reinterpretation of rules.

Bukhari said the court ruling “raised serious questions about the fairness and impartiality of the process, turning justice into a tool for selective prosecution.”

Khan’s opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party denounced the verdict in a statement, calling it “a black chapter in history,” and said Khan was present in the court when the judge announced the verdict in the Adiala prison in the city of Rawalpindi.

Khan, 73, was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 and his party is in opposition in the parliament. He has been serving multiple prison terms since 2023 on corruption convictions and other charges that the former cricket star and his supporters have alleged are aimed at blocking his political career.

FILE - Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, right, and Bushra Bibi, his wife, speak to the media before signing documents to submit surety bond over his bails in different cases, at an office of Lahore High Court in Lahore, Pakistan, on July 17, 2023. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)