Rebel group’s terrorist label could hinder efforts to aid Syria

Organizations with the terrorist label have “gone legit” before, like Sinn Fein in Ireland and the African National Congress in South Africa, integrating into the government and shedding paramilitary ties, said Rose Kelanic, director of the Middle East program at Defense Priorities, a foreign policy think tank in Washington—but that process can take a long time. Events in Syria are moving quickly. And there may be little political will for supporting Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s transformation when the Biden administration is exiting and the Trump administration is about to enter, she said.

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Rosemary
Kelanic

Director, Middle East Program

Defense Priorities