The U.S. State Department is revoking the foreign terrorist organization (FTO) designation for the al-Nusrah Front—also known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)—the Islamist faction that ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier this year and now leads the country’s interim government.
HTS, an offshoot of al-Qaeda, had operated in northwestern Syria before launching a swift military offensive that forced Assad to flee. The group’s leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani), has assumed power as interim president.
“In consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, I hereby revoke the designation of al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (and other aliases), as a Foreign Terrorist Organization,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a document submitted for publication in the Federal Register. “The revocation goes into effect upon publication.”
Read the document, set for publication Tuesday.
