The U.S. State Department announced its decision to remove “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) from its list of terrorist organizations.
The decision stated, “In consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, I hereby revoke the designation of Jabhat al-Nusra—also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and other aliases—as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.”
It added that this decision was made under Section 219 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act.
The State Department had originally designated Jabhat al-Nusra as a terrorist organization in December 2012, before its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, changed its name to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.
On December 8 of last year, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, led by al-Julani (Ahmad al-Shara), launched a large-scale offensive that resulted in the collapse and downfall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Al-Julani, later known as Ahmad al-Shara, assumed the presidency of Syria for a period of five years.
In May of last year, during a visit to Saudi Arabia, U.S. President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria, stating that the move came at the request of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
