Syria unable to import wheat or fuel due to U.S. sanctions, trade minister says
By Timour Azhari
DAMASCUS, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Syria is unable to make deals to import fuel, wheat or other key goods due to strict U.S. sanctions on the country and despite many countries, including Gulf Arab states, wanting to do so, Syria's new trade minister said.
In an interview with Reuters at his office in Damascus, Maher Khalil al-Hasan said the country's new ruling administration had managed to scrape together enough wheat and fuel for a few months but the country faces a "catastrophe" if sanctions are not frozen of lifted soon.
Hasan is a member of the new Syrian caretaker government set up by Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham after it led an offensive that toppled former President Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8. The sanctions were imposed during Assad's rule, targeting his government and also state institutions.
(Reporting by Timour Azhari, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
((timour.azhari@thomsonreuters.com @timourazhari; +96170191137 / +9647901917023;))
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