The Home Office has removed Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from its list of proscribed terrorist groups to promote “closer engagement” with the Syrian government.
Announcing the decision yesterday, the department said it would advance “UK foreign and domestic priorities, from counter-terrorism to migration and chemical weapons destruction”.
HTS, established in 2017, was the result of a merger of several Sunni Islamist and jihadist militant groups, as a successor to the Al-Nusra Front, the official branch of Al Qaeda in Syria.
It was a key belligerent in the Syrian Civil War against the Russian-backed regime of former President Bashar Al-Assad, who was deposed by an HTS-led revolution in January and now lives in exile in Moscow, and, significantly, fought against the so-called Islamic State group, officially known as Daesh.
Its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly the emir of the Al-Nusra Front under the name Abu Mohammad al-Julani, took Assad’s place as interim president. Since taking power, he has, at least publicly, heavily moderated his Islamist policies and sought closer relations with Western nations, particularly the US.
He also technically dissolved HTS in January, with the group being absorbed into “state institutions”, effectively becoming part of Syria’s governmental infrastructure.
The Trump administration lifted its harsh economic sanctions on Syria and deproscribed HTS earlier this year, with the UK now following suit.
In a statement, the Home Office said: “The UK will continue to press for genuine progress and hold the Syrian government accountable for its actions in fighting terrorism and restoring stability in Syria and the wider region. We will continue to judge the new Syrian government on their actions not on their words.
"Daesh remains a significant threat in Syria. The deproscription of HTS will support this government’s engagement on the counter-Daesh mission in Syria, in turn reducing the threat to the UK.
"Deproscription will also support closer working with Syria to eliminate the Assad regime’s chemical weapons programme. This government welcomes the Syrian President’s commitment to destroy these weapons once and for all.
"This government will always put the safety and security of the British people first, which is why any deproscription decision is not taken lightly.”
The move means it is no longer a criminal offence to be a member of or express support for HTS in the UK.
To get more Politics news, click here to sign up for our free politics newsletter.