US intends to exclude NE Syria from Caesar Act
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The United States will allow some foreign investments in areas of northeast Syria outside government control without coming under sanctions, US acting assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland said on Wednesday.
During a meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in Marrakech, Nuland said “Washington would issue a general license, which frees companies from US sanctions restriction.”
The Global Coalition gathered in Morocco to coordinate efforts to prevent the jihadists staging a revival in the Middle East and North Africa.
“The United States intends in the next few days to issue a general license to facilitate private economic investment activity in non-regime held areas liberated from ISIS in Syria,” Nuland said.
She explained that the license would apply to agriculture and reconstruction work, but not to oil.
In February 2022, an American source told North Press about the United States’ intention to exclude the areas held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria, and the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions in northwest Syria from Caesar Act.
Meanwhile the areas held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) will not be included in the action, according to the source.
In June 2019 the US administration imposed sanctions targeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his inner circle to choke off revenue for his government in a bid to force it back to UN and put an end to the country’s decade-long war.
Nuland’s statement comes a day after the sixth Brussels conference in which the United States and European Union countries announced the allocation of $5 billion to address the humanitarian situation in Syria and the region.
The sixth Brussels Conference on “Supporting the future of Syria and the region” started on 9 and 10 May, 2022.
The foreign ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS released a joint statement, in which the ministers pledged to stand with the Syrian people in support of a lasting political settlement in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
The statement read that the Coalition will continue to support inclusive local recovery and stabilization in areas liberated from ISIS and reconciliation and reintegration efforts to foster conditions conducive to a Syria-wide political resolution to the conflict under the parameters of UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
The Global Coalition against ISIS was formed in 2014 after the militants seized huge swathes of Iraq and Syria. It now includes 84 states and international organisations.