UK removes Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from 'terrorist' organisations list

The UK on Tuesday removed Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from its list of banned "terrorist" organisations, after the group ousted Bashar al-Assad last December and took control of government.

HTS was proscribed by the UK in 2017 over its former links to Al-Qaeda.

"The government's decision to remove Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from the list of proscribed terrorist organisations will mean closer engagement with the new Syrian government," the British foreign and interior ministries said in a joint statement.

Last December, an armed coalition led by HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa overthrew Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, ending half a century of brutal rule by the latter's family.

The UK government said the removal order, which has been laid in parliament, will also help it work with Syria to "eliminate the Assad regime's chemical weapons programme".

HTS, previously known as Al-Nusra Front, was formerly the branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria, but it broke ties with the militant group in 2016 and sought to soften its image.

As of 2017, HTS claimed control of swathes of the province of Idlib, in Syria's northwest, and went on to develop a civil administration in the area, amid accusations of brutal abuses against dissenters.

In January, after ousting Assad, the new authorities announced the dissolution of all armed factions, with some groups, including HTS, being integrated into bodies such as the country's new police force.

The interim government has thawed diplomatic relations with several other countries, with Sharaa -- now interim president -- holding talks with US President Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in recent months.

Britain's then-foreign minister David Lammy met Sharaa on a visit to Syria in July, where he announced the re-establishment of full diplomatic relations more than a decade after cutting ties.

In 2011, Britain was among the first countries to acknowledge rebel groups as the official Syrian government after Bashar al-Assad's crushing of pro-democracy protests plunged the country into civil war.

In 2018, the UK joined US air strikes on Syria's chemical weapons in response to a suspected poison gas attack by Assad's forces.

It announced it was lifting sanctions on Syria's interior and defence ministries in April, as well as against various media groups and intelligence agencies.