WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Monday lifted sanctions against Syria, though his executive order stopped well short of easing pressure on former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In signing the order,

Assad and his inner circle remain blacklisted. But the message is clear: the US is ready to do business with a Syria that has moved on from dictatorship—if it can prove it’s actually changed. The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel,

U.S. officials said sanctions against targets such as its central bank would end, but they would remain on Syria’s former dictator, Bashar al-Assad.