US removes ISIS from list of terrorist organizations

The United States announced on July 8 that it would remove the Syrian group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from its list of foreign terrorist organizations.

The group led the rebels that toppled the Assad regime, which had ruled Syria for 54 years. Its leader, Ahmed al-Shar', is now the country's interim president. HTS is also known as the al-Nusra Front. It was al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate until al-Shar' severed ties in 2016.

For your information, in recent months, Western countries have been seeking to restore relations with Syria, which has been under heavy sanctions. In late June, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order formally ending sanctions against the country.