About a third of Syria's population was wanted by the country's intelligence and security apparatus for “political reasons” under former president Bashar Al Assad, an interior ministry spokesman for the new government has said.

The US lifting sanctions paves the way for reconstruction, with authorities relying on foreign help to foot the cost of rebuilding.

Eager to rebuild nearly 14 years after a devastating civil war, new authorities hail Washington’s lifting of US sanctions.

Neighbors and colleagues reported on each other everywhere. Now, Syrians are shadowed by the question of who among them had contributed to the regime’s tyranny.

The statement came after the Trump administration granted Syria sweeping exemptions from sanctions on Friday (May 23) 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.

By Daren ButlerISTANBUL (Reuters) -President Tayyip Erdogan told Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa during talks in Istanbul on Saturday that Turkey welcomed the U.S. and EU decisions to lift sanctions on Syria,

Syria's interim leader met with Turkey's president in Istanbul on Saturday, in an unannounced visit amid efforts by the new rulers in Damascus to rebuild the war-torn country.Ankara is a firm supporter of Syria's new authorities,

President Donald Trump's administration is lifting sanctions on war-torn Syria, with the goal of speeding recovery and reconstruction efforts in the Middle Eastern country.