Syria and Qatar to pay Syria debt to the World Bank

Beirut (AP)-Saudi Arabia and Qatar said on Sunday they will pay the outstanding debt of Syria to the World Bank, a probable measure that the international institution will resume their support for the starting country of the war.

A joint statement by Saudi and Qatar’s finance ministers said that the decision to pay almost $ 15 million debt to Syria at the World Bank was taken during this month’s meetings in Washington by the World Bank and the IMF.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Syria thanked the two nations rich in oil and gas for paying the debt by saying that it opens the way to activate the cooperation towards recovery and reconstruction after a 14 -year conflict that killed half a million people and caused a wide destruction in the country.

Since the fall of The Bashar Assad government In early December, when the insurgent groups led by Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham stormed their power place in Damascus, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been the main sponsors in the country. New leadership.

The United Nations in 2017 estimated that it would cost at least $ 250 million to reconstruct Syria. Some experts say the number could reach at least $ 400 billion.

The joint statement of Saudi-Qatari said that the payment of Syria loans will facilitate the resumption of the support and activities of the World Bank in Syria that have been stopped for more than 14 years. The statement added that the payment of the loan will allow Syria to take World Bank assignments in the near future for “vital sectors”. Did not make.

The Syria infrastructure suffered a wide destruction during the conflict that broke out in March 2011. Last month, Qatar began supplying natural gas to Syria through Jordan to facilitate long hours of Electricity cuts they are common in much of the country.

One of the main obstacles to development projects in Syria is the western sanctions that were imposed in the country more than a decade ago, directing mainly to the Government and to the Assad officials.

Trump administration has not yet formally recognized the new Syrian government led by the President and the HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa. HTS is still a US -designated terrorist organization and the sanctions imposed on Damascus under Assad are still in place.

However, Washington has relieved some restrictions. The United States Treasury, in January, issued a general license, lasting six months, authorizing some transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.

In the meantime, the European Union has begun to alleviate some sanctions of energy and transport and bank restrictions against Syria, suspending measures aimed at oil, gas and electricity, as well as transport, including the aviation sector.

The British government said on Thursday that it was Lifting sanctions Against dozens of Syrian entities, including government departments and the media.