UN Security Council votes to lift sanctions on Syria president

• The UN Security Council voted to lift sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa ahead of his scheduled White House visit with President Trump next week.
• The US hailed the move as a political signal that Syria has entered a "new era," while China abstained, citing concerns about the fragile security situation.

The United Nations Security Council voted in favor of a US resolution on Thursday to lift sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, ahead of his White House visit next week.

"(The Council) decides that Ahmed al-Sharaa...and (Interior Minister) Anas Hasan Khattab are delisted from the ISIL and Al-Qaida Sanctions List," said the resolution, approved by 14 council members. China abstained.

US Hails Move as Political Signal

US Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz welcomed the decision, stating that with the adoption of this text, “the Council has sent a strong political message that Syria has entered a new era."

China, however, abstained from the vote.

Its ambassador, Fu Cong, expressed concern over the presence of "foreign terrorist fighters" in Syria who could "exploit" the "fragile security situation," regretting that the council had not fully assessed the situation.

Al-Sharaa's Diplomatic Engagement

The official lifting of the sanctions is largely seen as a symbolic measure, as similar steps were routinely taken whenever al-Sharaa needed to travel outside Syria in his capacity as president.

The lifting will also remove the asset freeze and arms embargo provisions.

US President Donald Trump is scheduled to host the Syrian president on Nov. 10 for talks, after stating that he had made "good progress" toward establishing peace in his war-torn country.

While this will be al-Sharaa's first visit to Washington, it marks his second trip to the United States after a landmark UN visit in September.

During that trip, al-Sharaa became the first Syrian president in decades to address the UN General Assembly in New York.

Al-Sharaa, whose forces overthrew President Bashar al-Assad late last year, first met Trump in May in Riyadh during the US president's regional tour. Washington had previously delisted the armed group led by al-Sharaa, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, from its list of terrorist organizations last July.

Damascus announced Sunday that the Syrian president would discuss issues in Washington including lifting remaining sanctions, reconstruction, and counterterrorism.

Trump has also expressed hope that Syria will join other Arab nations in normalizing relations with ‘Israel’ under the Abraham Accords.