By Muvija M and William James
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain unfroze the assets of Syria’s central bank and 23 other entities including banks and oil companies on Thursday, reversing sanctions imposed during Bashar al-Assad’s presidency.
The West is rethinking its approach to Syria after insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ousted Assad as president in December after more than 13 years of civil war.
“We are lifting asset freezes on 24 Syrian entities that were previously used by the Assad regime to fund the oppression of the Syrian people,” a foreign office spokesperson said.
“At the same time, sanctions on members of the Assad regime and those involved in the illicit trade in captagon remain in place.”
Captagon in an addictive amphetamine-like stimulant widely produced in Syria during Assad’s rule.
A notice posted on the British government website said entities including the central bank, the Commercial Bank of Syria and the Agricultural Cooperative Bank had been delisted and were no longer subject to an asset freeze.
Syrian Arab Airlines, Syrian Petroleum Company, Syria Trading Oil Company (SYTROL) and Overseas Petroleum Trading were also among those delisted.
Syria’s Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has called repeatedly for the lifting of Western sanctions that were imposed to isolate Assad during the civil war.
Last month, the European Union eased restrictions on the Syrian central bank while keeping in place the sanctions.
The U.S. has said its sanctions on the central bank remain in place.
A Syrian government media official did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by William James, Muvija M, Sam Tabahriti and Sachin Ravikumar in London and Timour Azhari in BeirutEditing by Peter Graff, William Maclean)
