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The UK government is currently considering whether the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist militant group, should still be classified as a terrorist organisation following the group’s involvement in the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. According to Pat McFadden, a minister in the UK government, the country’s leaders are concerned about the volatile situation in Syria and what the future holds for the country. If the situation in Syria stabilizes, then changing the ban on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham could be a “relatively swift decision.”
In early September, the Syrian capital of Damascus was overthrown and seized by various factions of rebels with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham at the forefront. The UK has proscribed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham as a terror organisation in the past due to its association with al-Qaeda. However, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s current leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, has pledged to be tolerant of various religious groups and communities.
Under the Terrorism Act 2000, an organisation can be proscribed if the Secretary of State for the Home Department believes that group is involved in terrorism or is encouraging such behaviour. McFadden confirmed that currently, the UK has no communication with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, and therefore no information could be gained through intermediaries.
Furthermore, McFadden explained that the UK government has not been keeping tabs on potential developments in Syria, and hence future decisions regarding the country will be made only after the situation stabilises. Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said that the government must review the “security and defense implications as well as the terrorist risks” posed by rebel groups like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
On another note, McFadden revealed that the UK has not received any request from Asma al-Assad, the significant other of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, to come to the UK. Although al-Assad has fled Syria and is currently in Russia, his wife, a former British investment banker, was born in the UK and holds a British passport
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