Report: US Gave Syria List of Conditions for Partial Sanctions Relief 

Supporters of Syria's new government gather after the prayer in Umayyad square in Damascus, Syria, Friday March 14, 2025.(AP)
Supporters of Syria's new government gather after the prayer in Umayyad square in Damascus, Syria, Friday March 14, 2025.(AP)
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Report: US Gave Syria List of Conditions for Partial Sanctions Relief 

Supporters of Syria's new government gather after the prayer in Umayyad square in Damascus, Syria, Friday March 14, 2025.(AP)
Supporters of Syria's new government gather after the prayer in Umayyad square in Damascus, Syria, Friday March 14, 2025.(AP)

The United States has handed Syria a list of conditions that it wants Damascus to fulfill in exchange for partial sanctions relief, six people familiar with the matter told Reuters, including ensuring foreigners are not in senior governing roles.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Levant and Syria Natasha Franceschi gave the list of demands to Syrian foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani at an in-person meeting on the sidelines of a Syria donor conference in Brussels on March 18, according to two of the people - a US official and a Syrian source familiar with the matter.

Reuters was first to report both the list and the in-person meeting, the first high-level direct contact between Damascus and Washington since US President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, has been previously reported.

Reuters spoke to six sources for this story, including two US officials, a Syrian source, a regional diplomat and two sources in Washington familiar with the matter. They all requested anonymity to discuss the high-level diplomacy.

Among the conditions placed by the United States are Syria's destruction of any remaining chemical weapons stores and cooperation on counter-terrorism, the two US officials, the Syrian source and both sources in Washington said.

Another demand was making sure foreign fighters are not installed in senior roles in Syria's governing structure, the US officials and one of the sources in Washington said.

Syria has already appointed some foreign ex-fighters, including Uyghurs, a Jordanian and a Turk, to its defense ministry - a move that alarmed foreign governments.

Washington also asked Syria to appoint a liaison to assist US efforts to find Austin Tice, the US journalist who went missing in Syria over a decade ago, according to the two US officials and both sources in Washington.

In return for fulfilling all the demands, Washington would provide some sanctions relief, all six sources said. One specific action would be a two-year extension of an existing exemption for transactions with Syrian governing institutions and possibly the issuance of another exemption.

The US would also issue a statement supporting Syria's territorial integrity, the source said.

Washington did not provide a specific timeline for the conditions to be fulfilled.

Syria's foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comments. A spokesperson for the State Department said the agency does not "discuss our private diplomatic conversations publicly." Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce last week said Washington was monitoring the actions of the interim rulers.

Syria is in desperate need of sanctions relief to kickstart an economy collapsed by nearly 14 years of war, during which the United States, the UK and Europe placed tough sanctions on people, businesses and whole sectors of Syria's economy in a bid to squeeze now-ousted leader Bashar al-Assad.

Some of those sanctions have been temporarily suspended, with limited effect. The US issued a six-month general license in January to ease the flow of humanitarian aid, but the move was not considered enough to allow Qatar to pay for public sector salaries through Syria's central bank.

Syrian officials including Shaibani and interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa have called for sanctions to be fully lifted, saying it is unjust to keep them in place following Assad's toppling by a lightning opposition offensive in December.

US SYRIA POLICY IN PROGRESS

The delivery of the demands is the clearest signal yet of the Trump administration's policy on Syria.

US statements have focused on support for minorities and condemnations of extremism but they have otherwise said little, leaving uncertainty over the future of sanctions and whether US forces will remain deployed in the northeast.

That is in part due to differing views in Washington on how to approach Syria. Some White House officials have been keen to take a more hardline stance, pointing to the new Syrian leadership's former ties to Al-Qaeda as reason to keep engagement to a minimum, according to diplomats and US sources familiar with the policymaking process.

The State Department has sought a more nuanced approach to Syria, including possible areas of engagement, the sources added.

The differences led earlier this month to a heated deliberation between the White House and State Department on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statement denouncing violence in western Syria, where hundreds of civilians from the Alawite minority - Assad's sect - were killed after an ambush on new security forces by armed loyalists to the former regime.

Rubio condemned "radical terrorists" that carried out the violence, and called for Syria's interim authorities to hold perpetrators accountable.

The White House sought a more harshly worded statement while the State Department pushed back to add more balance, sources familiar with the process said. Reuters reported last month that Israel was lobbying the United States to keep Syria weak and decentralized.

The administration is still not fully subscribing to Israel's effort to discourage US engagement with Syria's new rulers, sources said, but some of the Israeli concerns are gaining more traction with some US officials.



Amr Moussa to Asharq Al-Awsat: Gaddafi Initially Treated Me as an American Spy, Then Things Changed

Hosni Mubarak was able to manage the difficult relationship with Moammar al-Gaddafi. (AFP)
Hosni Mubarak was able to manage the difficult relationship with Moammar al-Gaddafi. (AFP)
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Amr Moussa to Asharq Al-Awsat: Gaddafi Initially Treated Me as an American Spy, Then Things Changed

Hosni Mubarak was able to manage the difficult relationship with Moammar al-Gaddafi. (AFP)
Hosni Mubarak was able to manage the difficult relationship with Moammar al-Gaddafi. (AFP)

In the third installment of his interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, former Egyptian Foreign Minister and ex-Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa discusses various experiences with Arab leaders, emphasizing the nuances of diplomacy in a turbulent region.

Moussa recalled that former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak “was neither bloodthirsty nor a pharaoh, nor did he try to be one.” He points to a famous remark by President Anwar Sadat, who once said: “Gamal (Abdel Nasser) and I are the last of the pharaohs.”

The Gaddafi encounter

Reflecting on his complex interactions with Libyan leader Moammar al-Gaddafi, Moussa admitted that the beginning was anything but smooth. “When I first met Gaddafi, he treated me as if I were an American spy. He wouldn’t look at me directly, only speaking while facing another direction. It was very theatrical,” Moussa said. He recalled this behavior with a certain amusement, treating it almost like a game: “I would wager with myself before our meetings—will he speak to me directly this time, or not?”

Initially, rumors had reached Gaddafi that Moussa had been sent with a US agenda, though he had actually been Egypt’s ambassador to the UN in New York, not Washington. “But once he observed how I performed in my role, he began to change his mind. Eventually, he would ask President Mubarak if I could join their private discussions.”

Moussa recalled a specific instance in Tobruk, where he was invited by Gaddafi to sit at a table with him and Mubarak to discuss a matter of importance. He knew this would stir unease among others present, but the conversation went ahead regardless. This type of scene, he noted, happened several times.

Hosni Mubarak, Moammar al-Gaddafi and Amr Moussa at the Arab summit in Sirte in 2010. (AFP)

Diplomatic drama in a tent

When Gaddafi visited Cairo during Moussa’s tenure as foreign minister, the Libyan leader insisted on setting up his trademark tent in the gardens of the Qubba Palace. Though the palace was fully equipped, Gaddafi would receive guests only in the tent. “At that time, he still saw me as a US spy,” Moussa said, “so he avoided looking at me during our meeting. He inspected every corner of the tent—except the one where I was sitting.”

Despite Gaddafi’s sometimes abrasive behavior, Moussa conceded that the Libyan leader was intelligent and unique. “He was eccentric, yes, but he had a cleverness about him. His actions often carried a deeper rationale, even if misguided.”

Gaddafi’s erratic rule extended to his own ministers. Moussa noted how even highly regarded officials like Abdul Rahman Shalgham and Ali Treki were subject to his whims. “If Gaddafi was displeased with something, he might simply tell you to stay home—and that could mean house arrest for years. Yet, your salary would still arrive at your door.”

A moment of humor

One incident stood out. Libya was scheduled to host the Arab summit and had failed to pay its dues to the Arab League, and as Secretary-General, Moussa received an envoy from Gaddafi carrying a list of demands. Moussa didn’t even read the letter; he simply locked it in a drawer. “When the envoy asked what to report back, I told him exactly that,” Moussa laughed.

Soon after, Gaddafi summoned him to Sirte. As Moussa waited in the tent, Gaddafi’s secretary, Bashir Saleh, walked by singing an old Arabic poem: “You seem tearless, and patience is your nature.” Moussa quipped: “Tell the leader he’s not tearless—he’s payment-less!” Saleh shared the joke with Gaddafi, who burst into laughter and finally paid Libya’s dues.

Later, during an Arab summit in Libya, Gaddafi displayed a surprising sense of responsibility. Moussa recalled a heated moment when Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh demanded immediate action on forming a pan-Arab army. Gaddafi gently interrupted: “Take it easy, Ali.” That phrase—“Take it easy, Ali”—spoke volumes, according to Moussa. “It revealed Gaddafi’s desire to manage tension even among volatile leaders.”

On Hosni Mubarak and the ‘pharaoh’ myth

Asked if Mubarak ever resembled the authoritarian archetype of a “pharaoh” as Russians view their “czars,” Moussa was firm: “No, not Mubarak. Maybe Sadat had some traits—he liked symbolism. But Mubarak? He wasn’t violent, nor bloodthirsty. Yes, he could be firm, but he didn’t revel in bloodshed.”

Moussa clarified that while Mubarak might have approved harsh punishments as president, it never escalated to a murderous level. “Perhaps there were isolated incidents, especially within the prison system, but it wasn’t part of Mubarak’s character to govern through violence. He wasn’t built that way.”

Saddam Hussein meets with Amr Moussa in Iraq in January 2002. (AFP)

The song that stirred controversy

When the Egyptian folk singer Shaaban Abdel Rahim sang “I hate Israel, and I love Amr Moussa,” it caused a stir. Moussa downplayed the drama. “I don’t think Mubarak himself was offended. He was the president; no foreign minister would rival him in popularity. But some people in the surrounding circles—not necessarily his inner circle—were irked.”

Eventually, another version of the song emerged, replacing Moussa’s name with Mubarak’s. “But it was the original that made waves. Even a diplomat from Latin America once told me, ‘We’re dancing to this song here!’”

A difficult meeting with Saddam Hussein

One of the most tense encounters Moussa ever had was with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. After being elected Secretary-General of the Arab League in 2001, Moussa set out to visit all Arab leaders. He deliberately left Saddam until the end, knowing the sensitivities involved.

In January 2002, Moussa visited Saddam at a small palace. He carried a message from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan regarding weapons inspections. “I told Saddam that Annan was open to negotiations, and that continued confrontation with the US would lead nowhere. At some point, no one would stand by him.”

Moussa asked Saddam directly: “Do you possess nuclear weapons?” Saddam answered, “No.” Moussa pressed him again: “Are you absolutely sure?” Saddam repeated, “No.” This made Moussa’s deputy, Ahmed Ben Helli, visibly nervous. “He probably thought we weren’t going to walk out of there.”

Moussa then asked why Iraq objected to the UN inspectors. Saddam responded: “These people don’t just inspect nuclear sites. They ask civilians about food supplies, their opinions on the government. What business is that of theirs?”

Moussa promised to report this to Annan, which he did. Negotiations resumed between Iraq and the UN, but history took its course and the US-led invasion followed.

Asked if he felt fortunate never to have served directly under a figure like Gaddafi, Moussa answered without hesitation: “Absolutely. I saw how respected men like Shalgham and Treki were sidelined. You could be a top official one day and under house arrest the next.”