Syria’s Kurdish-led authorities negotiating US sanctions exemption – report

Kurdish-led authorities in northeastern Syria are in talks with their military allies in a US-led coalition over a promised exemption from US sanctions targeting the Syrian government, Reuters reported, citing a senior Kurdish official. Washington says the sanctions, which took effect last week, mark the start of a sustained campaign of economic and political pressure on President Bashar Assad.

Kurdish-led militia control northeastern Syria and fought to drive Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) jihadists out of swathes of Syrian territory.

Badran Jia Kurd, a vice president of the regional administration, said the sanctions would have an impact on his area. It trades with government-held Syria via local merchants and uses the Syrian pound, which has plunged in value.

“They told us the self-administration regions will be exempt from the Caesar sanctions, but the mechanisms and means to achieve this exemption are being discussed with the international coalition,” Jia Kurd said.