UK lifts sanctions on Syrian central bank and petroleum firms

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Thursday unfroze the assets of Syria's central bank and 23 other entities including banks and oil companies, reversing sanctions imposed during Bashar al-Assad's presidency.

The West is rethinking its approach to Syria after insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ousted Assad as president in December after more than 13 years of civil war.

A notice posted on the British government website said entities including the central bank, the Commercial Bank of Syria and the Agricultural Cooperative Bank had been delisted and were no longer subject to an asset freeze.

Syrian Petroleum Company, Syria Trading Oil Company (SYTROL) and Overseas Petroleum Trading were also among those delisted.

Syria's Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has called repeatedly for the lifting of Western sanctions that were imposed to isolate Assad during the civil war.

Last month, European Union countries suspended a range of sanctions against Syria.

Britain's foreign office did not give a reason for the lifting of the sanctions and did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Syrian government media official did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In February, Britain said it would adapt its Syria sanctions following the collapse of al-Assad's rule, while ensuring asset freezes and travel bans imposed on members of the former government remain in place.

(Reporting by Muvija M in London and Timour Azhari in Beirut; Writing by Sam Tabahriti; Editing by William James and Peter Graff)