The government will make a swift decision on whether to lift the ban on Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) after it swept to power in Syria, ousting Bashar Assad’s regime.
HTS is banned in the UK because of its past association with al Qaida, the terrorist organisation once led by Osama bin Laden.
Its leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani cut ties with al Qaida years ago and has sought to present his group as a more moderate and inclusive organisation.
Cabinet minister Pat McFadden said “the situation is very fluid” but he hoped if there was a need to hold talks with HTS “it should be a relatively swift decision”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “They’ve been proscribed for quite a long time now.
“The leader of that group has distanced himself away from some of the things that have been said in the past. He is saying some of the right things about the protection of minorities, about respecting people’s rights. So we’ll look at that in the days to come.”
Meanwhile, a Downing Street spokesperson said the situation is “under regular review”, but confirmed that the government cannot engage with HTS until they are no longer a proscribed group.
“When it comes to HTS, they have been proscribed in the UK, having been added as an alias of al Qaida in 2017. The government doesn’t routinely comment in more detail on the list of proscribed organisations, but as you know we keep our regime under regular review”, they said.
The rapid collapse of the Assad regime after 13 years of civil war saw a coalition of rebel groups seize Damascus on Sunday, with the former president fleeing to Russia, one of his main allies.
Mr McFadden said the government has had “no contact or no request” for the British wife of Bashar Assad to come to the UK, saying that the issue is “not something that’s been raised” with the government.
Asma Assad was born in London in 1975, and was raised and educated in the city. She is now believed to be in Moscow with her husband.
The (Assad) family are in Russia as far as we know, that’s what Russian state media have said. We’ve certainly had no contact or no request for Mr Assad’s wife to come to the UK
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Mr McFadden was asked what the Government would do if Mrs Assad wanted to live in the UK.
He told the station: “The family are in Russia as far as we know, that’s what Russian state media have said.
“We’ve certainly had no contact or no request for Mr Assad’s wife to come to the UK.”
Pushed again on whether she could exercise the right to come to the UK, Mr McFadden added: “I couldn’t comment on her individual rights.
From the point of view of the UK Government, our main concern at the moment is what the future is, whether the rights of citizens and minorities are protected and whether stability can come to a country that has had so much violence and war over the past 15 years
“I don’t know her exact circumstances, so I don’t know what would happen in those circumstances, but it’s not something that’s been raised with us.”
He also suggested that the government would not have to think about it “unless it’s raised with us”.
“From the point of view of the UK government, our main concern at the moment is what the future is, whether the rights of citizens and minorities are protected and whether stability can come to a country that has had so much violence and war over the past 15 years,” Mr McFadden added.
It is understood that referrals were made to the Metropolitan Police’s war crimes team in relation to Mrs Assad in 2020 and 2021, but the matter was subsequently dropped.
