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Syria’s new authorities have agreed to help the United States locate and return Americans who went missing in the war-ravaged country, a US envoy said on Sunday, in another sign of thawing bilateral ties.The announcement came a day after the United States formally lifted sanctions on Syria, ending more than a decade of diplomatic freeze.Relations have steadily improved since former president Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by an Islamist-led offensive in December.”The new Syrian government has agreed to assist the USA in locating and returning USA citizens or their remains,” US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack wrote on X, describing it as a “powerful step forward”.”The families of Austin Tice, Majd Kamalmaz, and Kayla Mueller must have closure,” he added, referring to American citizens who had gone missing or been killed during Syria’s devastating civil war that erupted in 2011.Tice was working as a freelance journalist for Agence France-Presse, The Washington Post, and other outlets when he was detained at a checkpoint in August 2012.Kamalmaz, a Syrian-American psychotherapist, was believed to have died after being detained under the Assad government in 2017.Mueller was an aid worker kidnapped by the Islamic State group, which announced her death in February 2015, saying she was killed in a Jordanian air strike, a claim disputed by US authorities.”President (Donald) Trump has made it clear that bringing home USA citizens or honoring, with dignity, their remains is a major priority everywhere,” said Barrack, who also serves as the US ambassador to Turkey.”The new Syrian Government will aid us in this commitment,” he added.- Americans killed by IS -A Syrian source aware of the talks between the two countries told AFP there were 11 other names on Washington’s list, all of them Syrian-Americans.The source added that a Qatari delegation began this month, at Washington’s request, a search mission for the remains of American hostages killed by IS.Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights meanwhile said that “the Qatari delegation is still searching in Aleppo province for the bodies of American citizens executed by IS”.Two US journalists, James Foley and Stephen Sotloff, were videotaped in 2014 being beheaded by a militant who spoke on camera with a British accent.El Shafee Elsheikh, a jihadist from London, was found guilty in 2022 of hostage-taking and conspiracy to murder US citizens — Foley and Sotloff, as well as aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.The formal lifting of US sanctions also coincided with Syria’s new authorities reshuffling their interior ministry to include fighting cross-border drug and people smuggling, as they seek to improve ties with the West.The lifting of sanctions paves the way for reconstruction efforts in the war-torn country, where authorities are relying on foreign assistance to help foot the enormous cost of rebuilding.The sanctions relief is on condition that Syria does not provide a safe haven for terrorist organisations and ensures security for religious and ethnic minorities, the US Treasury Department said.Trump shook hands with Syria’s jihadist-turned-interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa earlier this month during a visit to Saudi Arabia.- Sharaa in Turkey -Barrack’s statement comes a day after he met Syrian interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Istanbul, during Sharaa’s third visit to Turkey since the fall of Assad.The Syrian presidency said on Sunday that Sharaa and his accompanying delegation met with Turkish officials in Ankara, including Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and financial officials.Yilmaz said in a statement that they discussed “deepening our economic cooperation in the new period”, adding that his country will “continue to provide all kinds of support to the Syrian people in their peace, development and reconstruction process”.As part of Syria’s efforts to strengthen its institutions, the interior ministry appointed new security chiefs in 12 provinces on Sunday.It did not say how the chiefs were chosen nor did it share much information about them, but the list includes former security officials in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Sharaa-led Islamist group that spearheaded the December offensive.The new authorities faced criticism when military appointments in December included six foreign fighters.After meeting Sharaa in Riyadh this month, US President Donald Trump demanded that “foreign terrorists” leave Syria.Damascus had previously told Washington in a letter that it would “freeze the promotions of foreign fighters” and form a committee to review previous promotions, according to a Syrian source with knowledge of the letter.The source requested anonymity as they were not allowed to brief the media on the topic.

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Syrian authorities on Saturday announced an interior ministry restructuring that includes fighting cross-border drug and people smuggling as they seek to improve ties with Western nations that have lifted sanctions.Keen to reboot and rebuild nearly 14 years after a devastating civil war broke out, the new authorities in Damascus have hailed Washington’s lifting of US sanctions.The move was formalised Friday after being announced by President Donald Trump on a Gulf tour this month during which he shook hands with Syria’s jihadist-turned-interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.Spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said the interior ministry restructure included reforms and creating “a modern civil security institution that adopts transparency and respects international human rights standards”.It includes setting up a citizens’ complaints department and incorporating the police and General Security agency into an Internal Security command, he told a press conference.A border security body for Syria’s land and sea frontiers will be tasked with “combating illegal activities, particularly drug and human smuggling networks”, Baba said.The restructure includes “strengthening the role of the anti-drug department and further developing its importance within Syria and abroad” after the country became a major exporter of illicit stimulant captagon, he added.Another department will handle security for government facilities and foreign missions, as embassies reopen in Syria following Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in December.A tourism police body will secure visitors and sites as the war-torn country — home to renowned UNESCO World Heritage sites — seeks to relaunch tourism.- ‘Of critical importance’ -Syria’s foreign ministry welcomed Washington’s lifting of sanctions, calling the move “a positive step in the right direction to reduce humanitarian and economic struggles in the country”.Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said the recent US and European Union steps to lift sanctions were “of critical importance in efforts to bring stability and security to Syria”.The European Union announced the lifting of its economic sanctions on Syria earlier this month.Sharaa met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday on his third visit to Turkey since taking power on a visit to discuss “common issues”, Syria’s presidency said.Ankara is a major backer of Syria’s new authorities, who are negotiating with Kurdish forces that control swathes of the northeast and that Turkey considers “terrorists”.A government delegation made a first visit Saturday to the notorious Al-Hol camp in the northeast that hosts families of suspected Islamic State (IS) group jihadists.Trump said he wanted to give Syria’s new rulers “a chance at greatness” after their overthrow of Assad.While in Istanbul, Sharaa met with the US ambassador to Turkey, who doubles as Washington’s Syria envoy.In a statement, Tom Barrack said: “President Trump’s goal is to enable the new government to create the conditions for the Syrian people to not only survive but thrive.”He added that it would aid Washington’s “primary objective” of ensuring the “enduring defeat” of IS.US sanctions were first imposed on Syria in 1979 under the rule of Bashar al-Assad’s father Hafez.They were sharply expanded after the bloody repression of anti-government protests in 2011 triggered Syria’s civil war.The new administration has been looking to build relations with the West and roll back sanctions, but some governments expressed reluctance, pointing to the Islamist past of leading figures. – ‘Recovery and reconstruction’ -The sanctions relief extends to the new government on condition that Syria does not provide safe haven for terrorist organisations and ensure security for religious and ethnic minorities, the US Treasury Department said.Concurrently, the US State Department issued a 180-day waiver for the Caesar Act to make sure that sanctions do not obstruct foreign investment in Syria.The 2020 legislation severely sanctioned any entity or company cooperating with the now ousted government.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the waiver would “facilitate the provision of electricity, energy, water and sanitation, and enable a more effective humanitarian response across Syria”.However, Rubio cautioned that Trump “has made clear his expectation that relief will be followed by prompt action by the Syrian government on important policy priorities”.He said lifting the sanctions aims to promote “recovery and reconstruction efforts”.Syria’s 14-year civil war killed more than half a million people and ravaged its infrastructure.The interior ministry’s spokesman said around a third of the population had been under suspicion by the Assad government’s feared intelligence and security services.Analysts say a full lifting of sanctions may take time, as some US restrictions are acts that need to be reversed by Congress.Syrian authorities also need to ensure an attractive environment for foreign investment.

Hasan Hadi, the first filmmaker from Iraq to be selected for the prestigious Cannes Festival, on Saturday won a top prize for his childhood adventure under economic sanctions in “The President’s Cake”.His first feature-length film follows nine-year-old Lamia after her school teacher picks her to bake the class a cake for President Saddam Hussein’s birthday or risk being denounced for disloyalty.It is the early 1990s, the country is under crippling UN sanctions, and she and her grandmother can barely afford to eat.The pair set off from their home in the marshlands into town to try to track down the unaffordable ingredients.Hadi dedicated his Camera d’Or award, which honours first-time directors, to “every kid or child around the world who somehow finds love, friendship and joy amid war, sanctions and dictatorship.”You are the real heroes,” he said.He later shared the stage with dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who won the festival’s Palme D’Or top prize for his “It Was Just an Accident”, the tale of five ordinary Iranians confronting a man they believed tortured them in jail. “The President’s Cake” has received excellent reviews since premiering last week in the Directors’ Fortnight section. Cinema bible Variety called it a “tragicomic gem”.Deadline said it was “head and shoulders above” some of the films in the running for the festival’s Palme d’Or top prize, and “could turn out to be Iraq’s first nominee for an Oscar”.- Palestinian films -Also from the Middle East, Palestinian director Tawfeek Barhom received his award for his short film “I’m Glad You’re Dead Now”.After giving thanks, he took the opportunity to mention the war in Gaza.”In 20 years from now when we are visiting the Gaza Strip, try not to think about the dead and have a nice trip,” he said.US President Donald Trump sparked controversy this year by saying he wanted to turn the war-ravaged Palestinian territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.Outside the main competition, Gazan twin brothers Arab and Tarzan Nasser on Friday received a directing award in the Certain Regard parallel section for “Once Upon A Time In Gaza”.One of them dedicated the award to Palestinians, especially those living in their homeland of Gaza, which they left in 2012.He said that, when they hesitated to return to Cannes to receive the prize, his mother had encouraged him to go and tell the world about the suffering of people in Gaza.”She said, ‘No, no, no, you have to go. Tell them to stop the genocide’,” he said.Amnesty International last month said Israel was carrying out a “live-streamed genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza, claims Israel dismissed as “blatant lies”.