Canada announces plan to ease Syria sanctions, names ambassador

The Canadian government on Wednesday announced plans to ease sanctions on Syria during what it called a period of transition.

Many Western nations, including Canada, had put a range of sanctions against Syria under its ousted President Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled late last year by insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

The Canadian government issued a statement announcing the steps that it said displayed Ottawa's "commitment to deliver much-needed humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people and to support a transition to an inclusive and peaceful future."

The Canadian government said it is providing C$84 million in new funding for humanitarian assistance to Syria.

"Canada is also taking steps to ease existing sanctions for a period of six months, to support democratization, stabilization, and the delivery of aid to and within Syria during this period of transition," the Canadian government said in its statement.

Canada’s ambassador to Lebanon, Stefanie McCollum, was nominated to serve concurrently as non-resident ambassador to Syria, Ottawa added.

Canada added it was issuing a general permit, valid for a period of six months, that allows Canadians to carry out financial transactions and services, that are otherwise prohibited, when supporting democratization, stabilization and the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Syria.

It said it will be easing sanctions to allow funds to be sent through certain banks in the country, such as Syria’s Central Bank.

Syria's new rulers once had links to al-Qaeda until their leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, cut ties in 2016. Pressure has been growing on Syria's new government to investigate reports by witnesses and a war monitor of the killing of hundreds of civilians in villages where the majority of the population are members of Assad's Alawite sect.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry