Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham deproscribed

An order has been laid in Parliament to deproscribe Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

The government has made the decision to enable closer engagement with the new Syrian government and 'support UK foreign and domestic priorities, from counter-terrorism to migration and chemical weapons destruction'.

HTS was originally listed as an alias of proscribed organisation Al-Qa’ida in 2017.

The government said it will continue to press for genuine progress and hold the Syrian government accountable for its actions in fighting terrorism and restoring stability in Syria and the wider region.

The government said that the deproscription of HTS will support this government’s engagement on the counter-Daesh mission in Syria, in turn reducing the threat to the UK and also support closer working with Syria to eliminate the Assad regime’s chemical weapons programme.

The US has also removed HTS from its list of Foreign Terrorist Organisations earlier this year.

83 organisations are currently proscribed in the UK.