UN special envoy for Syria calls for sanctions relief following Assad’s fall

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The United Nations special envoy for Syria on Sunday called for a quick end to Western sanctions after the ouster of President Bashar Assad.

The Syrian government has been under strict sanctions by the United States, European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and later spiraled into a civil war.

The conflict has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.