Qatar to help Syria pay salaries, says minister amid US silence

Qatar to fund $29M monthly for 3 months to cover Syrian wages in health, education, social sectors, and pensions

Syria's finance minister has said Qatar will help the Islamist-led government to pay public sector salaries for the coming months through a mechanism he said had been exempted from US sanctions.

There was no immediate announcement from either the Qatari government or the US Treasury.

"We thank the Qatari government for the generous grant provided to pay part of the current wages and salary bill," Finance Minister Mohammed Barnieh said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA late Wednesday.

The extendable arrangement is for "$29 million a month for three months" and will cover "wages in the health, education and social affairs sectors and non-military" pensions, he said.

The move "was exempted from US sanctions", he added, expressing thanks to the US Treasury "for the quick response to facilitate the grant".

Syria's Islamist-led interim authorities have been pushing for the lifting of international sanctions since they ousted longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad in December following nearly 14 years of civil war.

Barnieh expressed hope the move would be "followed by other steps to strengthen confidence, and towards more measures to reduce the sanctions".

Alongside its ally Turkey, Qatar is one of the main backers of the Islamist authorities.

In January, a diplomatic source told AFP that Qatar was weighing a plan to provide the new authorities with funds to raise public sector salaries.

Barnieh said "the grant will be managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and covers around a fifth of current wages and salaries".

"We are continuing with financial reform to strengthen the integrity and confidence in our financial system," he said.

While some Western governments have eased sanctions on Syria, Washington has said it will not do so until it has has verified progress on priorities including acting against "terrorism".

Speaking Wednesday on his first visit to Europe, Sharaa said continued EU sanctions were unjustified.

French President Emmanuel Macron urged a continuation of "the gradual lifting of European economic sanctions" if the new Islamist authorities stabilise the country.