Donald Trump has removed a Syrian rebel group from the United States’s official list of terrorist organisations.

The foreign terrorist organisation designation for the Syrian-based rebel group was officially revoked on June 23, and will be published on Tuesday by the US Department of State.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, was previously al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch, also known as the Nusra Front.

“In consultation with the Attorney General and the secretary of the Treasury, I hereby revoke the designation of al-Nusra Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (and other aliases) as a foreign terrorist organisation,” Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, said in the notice.

The information was shared in a preview of the Federal Register before official publication on Tuesday.

Syria’s foreign ministry has not yet commented on the redesignation.

Trump lifts sanctions

It comes after Mr Trump last week dismantled US sanctions on Syria in an effort to reintegrate the war-torn country into the global economy.

Mr Trump lifted most sanctions against Syria in May, following appeals from Saudi Arabia and Turkey after Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former Islamist guerrilla, ended half a century of rule by the Assad family.

In an executive order, Mr Trump ended the “national emergency” in place since 2004 that imposed far-reaching sanctions on Syria, affecting most state-run institutions including the central bank.

“This is in an effort to promote and support the country’s path to stability and peace,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said.

Brad Smith, the treasury department official in charge of sanctions, said the move would “end the country’s isolation from the international financial system, setting the stage for global commerce and galvanising investments from its neighbours in the region, as well as from the United States”.