DAVOS: Syria’s top diplomat said Wednesday that lifting economic sanctions imposed during the rule of ousted president Bashar al-Assad was “key” to stability in the country.
“Removing economic sanctions is the key for the stability of Syria,” Asaad al-Shaibani said in a conversation with former British prime minister Tony Blair at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The sanctions, he added, were imposed for the benefit of Syrians, but are now “against the Syrian people”.
On December 8, forces seized control of Damascus and ousted Assad, ending more than 50 years of his family’s iron-fisted rule.
Syria’s new authorities are now lobbying Western powers to remove sanctions that had targeted Assad’s government over his brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011, which triggered the country’s civil war.
Some Syria sanctions ‘could be lifted quickly’: French top diplomat
Nearly 14 years of conflict have devastated Syria’s infrastructure and economy.
“The reason for these sanctions is now in Moscow,” Shaibani said, referring to Assad, who fled to the Russian capital.
He added that “the Syrian people shouldn’t be punished” by measures levelled against the now-deposed ruler.
“We inherited a collapsed state from the Assad regime, there is no economic system,” he continued, expressing hope that “the economy in the future will be open”.
Earlier Wednesday, Shaibani told the Financial Times that a committee had been created to study “Syria’s economic condition and infrastructure and would focus on privatisation efforts, including of oils, cotton and furniture factories”.
Syria will “explore public-private partnerships to encourage investment into airports, railways and roads” according to his interview with the FT.
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