DAMASCUS: Syria welcomed Saturday the move by the Trump administration to ease sanctions imposed on the war-torn country, calling it a “positive step” to ease humanitarian and economic suffering.A statement by the foreign ministry said Syria “extends its hand” to anyone who wants to cooperate with Damascus, on the condition that there is no intervention in the country’s internal affairs. Saturday’s statement came a day after the Trump administration granted Syria sweeping exemptions from sanctions in a major first step toward fulfilling the president’s pledge to lift a half-century of penalties on a country shattered by 14 years of civil war. A measure by the state department waived for six months a tough set of sanctions imposed by Congress in 2019. A treasury department action suspended enforcement of sanctions against anyone doing business with a range of Syrian individuals and entities, including Syria’s central bank.

The congressional sanctions, known as the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, had aimed to isolate Syria’s previous rulers by effectively expelling those doing business with them from the global financial system. They specifically block postwar reconstruction, so while they can be waived for 180 days by executive order, investors are likely to be wary of reconstruction projects when sanctions could be reinstated after six months. The Trump administration said Friday’s actions were “just one part of a broader US government effort to remove the full architecture of sanctions.” Those penalties had been imposed on the Assad family for their support of Iranian-backed militias, their chemical weapons programme and abuses of civilians. Trump said during a visit to the region earlier this month that the US would roll back the heavy financial penalties in a bid to give the interim government a better chance of survival. Syria’s foreign ministry said dialogue and diplomacy are the best way to build “balanced relations that achieve the interest of the people and strengthen security and stability in the region.” It added that the coming period in Syria will be reconstruction and restoring “Syria’s natural status” in the region and around the world.