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After Assad’s ouster in Syria, U.N. envoy calls for end to sanctions
A U.N. envoy on Sunday called for a quick end to Western sanctions against Syria as the country’s new leaders and regional and global powers begin to chart a path forward following the fall of President Bashar Assad.
The Syrian government has been under strict sanctions by the United States, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and later spiraled into a civil war.
The rebel alliance that ousted Assad and broke his iron grip on the country just days ago faces a nation wracked and deeply isolated by tough international sanctions, which compounded Syria’s previous economic troubles. But other challenges also complicate Syria’s rebuilding: the new transitional leadership has not laid out a clear vision how the country will be governed, and the main group behind the offensive is saddled with a terrorist designation by the U.S.
The U.N. envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, told reporters in Damascus that setting Syria back on track after the past few tumultuous weeks will be helped by a speedy relief of sanctions.
“We can hopefully see a quick end to the sanctions so that we can see really a rallying around building of Syria,” he said.
Ali Haj Suleiman / Getty Images
Parts of Syria’s biggest cities remain damaged or destroyed by years of fighting. Reconstruction has been stymied largely by sanctions that aimed to prevent rebuilding of damaged infrastructure and property in government-held areas in the absence of a political solution.
Pedersen traveled to Damascus to meet with officials from the new interim government set up by the former opposition forces who toppled Assad, led by the Islamic militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. Officials in Washington have indicated that the Biden administration is considering removing the group’s terror designation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that officials have been in direct contact with the group.
Over the weekend, Blinken attended an emergency meeting in Jordan where he said he secured the backing of the 12 foreign ministers from the Arab League, Turkey and top officials from the European Union and United Nations on how Syria should be run after decades of Assad family rule.
They agreed that the new government should respect the rights of minorities and women, prevent terror groups from taking hold, ensure humanitarian aid reaches those in need, and secure and destroy any remaining Assad-era chemical weapons. Blinken has promised that the United States would recognize and support a new government that met those principles.
A readout from President Biden’s virtual call with the G7 leaders said they discussed “the need for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition process” amid other issues in the Middle East.
With the clock on the Biden administration running out, it isn’t clear what approach President-elect Donald Trump will take on Syria.
Syria’s interim government is set to rule until March, but it has not yet made clear the process under which a new permanent administration would replace it.
“We need to get the political process underway that is inclusive of all Syrians,” Pedersen said. “That process obviously needs to be led by the Syrians themselves.”
He called for “justice and accountability for crimes” committed during the war and for the international community to step up humanitarian aid.
In a sign of Syrians’ yearning for a return to normalcy, even after the whirlwind rebel offensive of the past weeks, schools in Damascus reopened Sunday for the first time since the insurgents marched in the capital.
At Nahla Zaidan school in the capital’s Mezzah neighborhood, teachers hoisted the three-starred revolutionary flag in place of the former government’s two-starred Syrian flag.
“Syria is trying to build up this country with these children who came. Although I think some of them are afraid, they came to build Syria and to live the victories of this country,” said Maysoun Al-Ali, director of the school.
“God willing, there will be more development, more security and more construction in this beloved country.”
An ice storm struck Iowa and eastern Nebraska over the weekend, shutting down a major interstate highway as cars and trucks slid off of the road. At least one person was killed in a crash because of the icy roads in Nebraska.
The National Weather Service in Des Moines issued a dense fog advisory Saturday that was set to remain effective through 11 a.m. CT Sunday. Thick fog spread across much of the state, reducing visibility to 1/4 of a mile or less in some places, the weather service said. Ice had predominantly turned into freezing rain by Saturday evening, but roads in eastern Iowa were still at least partially blanketed by ice or snow, the forecasters said.
Authorities said one person died while driving on icy roads in eastern Nebraska. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said a 57-year-old woman was killed in a crash after losing control of her pickup truck on Highway 30, near Arlington, and hit an oncoming truck. The other driver sustained minor injuries in the accident. Washington County is located close to the eastern Nebraska border with Iowa, near Omaha.
Roads in that area were slick enough Saturday to play ice hockey in the street, as one person was seen doing in a social media video that the National Weather Service in Omaha reposted. A dense fog advisory was also in pace for the region through Sunday at 11 a.m. CT.
“Dense fog is continuing to develop across our area and is expected to last through tomorrow morning,” the National Weather Service in Omaha wrote in an advisory Saturday night. “With visibilities below a quarter mile at times and slick spots redeveloping on some roadways, please exercise caution and take things slow if you’re out and about!”
Forecasters warned untreated roads could refreeze overnight as temperatures dropped.
Many events were canceled across the region when the storm hit Friday evening, and businesses announced plans to open late Saturday as officials urged people to stay home if possible. Temperatures rose high enough in the afternoon to melt the ice in most places, however.
“Luckily some warmer air is moving in behind this to make it temporary,” said Dave Cousins, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Davenport, Iowa.
Elsewhere, a storm and wind gusts of up to 60 mph prompted the first tornado warning in San Francisco and caused some damage. Parts of neighboring San Mateo County were also included in the warning, which went out at 5:51 a.m. to about 1 million people and was lifted about 20 minutes later.
Later Saturday, a tornado touched down near a shopping mall in Scotts Valley, near the city of Santa Cruz about 70 miles south of San Francisco, overturning cars and toppling trees and utility poles, the National Weather Service said.
Livermore Police Dept. via AP
“Based on video, photos, firsthand accounts, and radar signatures a tornado occurred (at) 1:40 PM” PT, the service said, adding that a team will investigate and provide a ranking.
Images uploaded to social media showed at least three vehicles on their hood or side, with their windshields smashed and trees and power lines on the ground.
Several people were injured and taken to hospitals, the Scotts Valley Police Department said.
“The tornado has caused extensive damage in several areas, including overturning several vehicles in and around the shopping district on Mt. Hermon Drive,” the department said in a statement. It asked people to avoid the area.
One of those injured was a battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, KSBW-TV reported.
In San Francisco, some trees toppled onto cars and streets and damaged roofs. The city has not seen a tornado since 2005, according to the Weather Service. The damage was being assessed to determine if the city was indeed hit by a tornado.
“This was the first ever warning for a possible tornado in San Francisco. I would guess there wasn’t a clear signature on radar for a warning in 2005,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist in the Weather Service’s Monterey, California. He said he was not there in 2005.
The fast-moving storm prompted warnings for residents to take shelter, but few people have basements in the area.
“The biggest thing that we tell people in the city is to put as many walls between you and the outside as possible,” Meteorologist Dalton Behringer said.
In upstate New York, people were digging out after heavy snow fell. More than 33 inches was reported near Orchard Park, where residents are used to dealing with lake-effect snow this time of year.
And in Nevada, up to 3 feet of snow was forecast for Sierra Nevada mountaintops. More than a foot (30 cm) fell at some Lake Tahoe ski resorts, and a 112-mph gust of wind was recorded at the Mammoth Mountain resort south of Yosemite National Park, according to the National Weather Service’s Reno office.
A winter storm warning was set to expire at Saturday at 10 p.m. PT, but an avalanche warning remained in effect into the following night for elevations above 8,000 feet around Tahoe.
Interstate 80 was closed along an 80-mile stretch from Applegate, California, to the Nevada line just west of Reno, where rain was falling and a winter weather advisory was in effect through the afternoon. The California Highway Patrol reopened the road in the afternoon for passenger vehicles with chains or four-wheel drive and snow tires, though it remained closed to semitrailer trucks.
In western Washington, tens of thousands of people lost electricity Saturday, local news outlets reported, amid a system that brought rain and gusty winds.
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