The European Union is considering easing sanctions on Syria to assist the new government in rebuilding the country following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, a senior EU official stated on Monday.

"Regarding Syria, we are going to decide today to lift, to suspend, certain sanctions that had applied to the energy and transport sectors and to financial institutions that were key to the financial stabilisation of the country," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on arrival at the EU meeting in Brussels.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she expected the bloc to agree Monday to begin easing sanctions on Syria after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. “It is a step for step approach,” Kallas said at the start of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels to discuss the move.

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - French investigating magistrates have issued an arrest warrant against ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for suspected complicity in war crimes, notably the launch of a deliberate attack on civilians, a legal source said late on Tuesday, January 21, 2025.