Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Monday that the Trump administration is revoking the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the al-Qaeda offshoot that took power in Damascus in December 2024.
HTS started as the al-Nusra Front, which was the official al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria until the group’s leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is now Syria’s de facto president, rebranded. In 2016, Sharaa, who was known at the time as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, announced he was disassociating from al-Qaeda, and thanked the “commanders of al-Qaeda for having understood the need to break ties.”
Sharaa renamed his group HTS in 2017 and ruled Syria’s northwestern Idlib province until he led the offensive that ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the end of last year. The US has embraced the new Syrian leader despite his al-Qaeda past, which included fighting against US troops in Iraq.
“In line with President Trump’s May 13 promise to deliver sanctions relief to Syria, I am announcing my intent to revoke the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), under the Immigration and Nationality Act. This revocation will be effective tomorrow, July 8,” Rubio said in a statement on Monday.
The revocation comes about a week after President Trump signed an executive order lifting most sanctions on Syria. Rubio said the decisions come after the Syrian government’s “commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms.”
But since HTS took power, there have been significant massacres of thousands of Alawite civilians and other minorities, which, according to a recent report from Reuters, trace back to the government. A recent suicide bombing at an Orthodox Christian church in Damascus also has an HTS link, as the group that took credit is led by a former member of HTS.
Trump met with Sharaa back in May during his visit to Saudi Arabia and praised the former al-Qaeda leader, calling him a “young, attractive guy” with a “strong past.” While the US doesn’t have formal relations with the new Syrian government, it has taken steps in that direction, including the reopening of the US ambassador’s residence in Damascus.
