Canada announces plan to ease Syria sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A person carries a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, in the Umayyad Mosque, after Syria's Bashar al-Assad was ousted, in Damascus, Syria, December 27, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo

(Reuters) - 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).