UK may remove HTS from terror list amid ‘fluid’ situation in Syria

The British government may remove Syrian militant group Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) from its terror list in the near future, amid its assumption to power following the toppling of the Assad regime.

On Sunday, Syrian rebels primarily led by HTS conquered the capital, Damascus, completing a rapid ten-day-long offensive which saw the Syrian opposition capture numerous towns and major cities from Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, effectively ending almost 14 years of civil war and over five decades of the Syrian Baath party and its iron grip on power.

That victory has apparently made HTS the leading authority amongst the former opposition groups in Syria, leading to the possibility that it may make up the country’s next government and administration in the near future. One major obstacle standing in the way of such an administration’s international legitimacy, however, is the fact that it has been proscribed as a terror organisation over the years by many Western nations, in particular the United States and the United Kingdom, due to its historical previous ties to Al Qaeda.

That could soon reportedly change, however. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme on Monday, the UK’s Minister for Intergovernmental Relations, Pat McFadden, said that the situation in Syria is “very fluid” and that a review of HTS’s terror designation has “got to be considered”.

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Acknowledging that the group’s leader, Abu Muhammad Al-Jolani – who now publicly goes by his real name Ahmed Hussein Al-Sharaa – “has distanced himself in a way from some of the things that have been said in the past”, McFadden stated that he is “saying some of the right things about the protection of minorities, about respecting people’s rights. So we’ll look at that in the days to come.”

The Minister added that “a lot will depend on whether their statements about the protection of minorities and citizens are backed up.”

His comments come after the end of the Assad dynasty’s rule was welcomed by British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, whose official spokesman stated that the government has a “long-standing” policy of not engaging with blacklisted organisations but that it keeps the terror list “under regular review”.

Other UK government and security figures who have commented on the issue include Sir John Sawers, the former head of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency MI6, who told Sky News it would be “rather ridiculous” if London was unable to engage with HTS due to the ban.