Syrian foreign minister raises new flag at UN headquarters

Shaibani "raises the new Syrian flag in front of the United Nations building in New York", Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

Images showed Shaibani raising the three-starred flag officially adopted after the December ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. The flag had become a symbol of the revolt against Assad's repressive rule.

In an interview with Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, Shaibani said raising the new flag was a step "Syrians had been waiting for, for 14 years" since Assad repressed peaceful protesters, igniting a civil war.

The move was "not just a symbolic step" but "salutes the memory of the Syrian people and it crowns their victory", he added.

AFP images later showed Shaibani attending a Security Council meeting on Syria, during his first visit to the UN since Islamist-led forces toppled Assad.

The diplomat once again urged the international community to lift Assad-era sanctions to allow for relief and economic development.

The sanctions "are the obstacle to the return of refugees, to stability, to investments, and to the revival of the infrastructure destroyed by the Assad regime", he said.

Some European and other Western states have eased certain sanctions on Syria, while others including the United States have said they would wait to see how the new authorities exercise their power and ensure human rights, opting instead for targeted and temporary exemptions.

The United Kingdom on Thursday said it was lifting restrictions on Syria's interior and defence ministries and sectors including financial services.

"We are here to tell the world that there is a new Syria and that a new opportunity is being created in the Arab region," Shaibani told Al Jazeera.

"Give these people their right to live and lift the unjust sanctions imposed on them," he added.

"The new administration... is extending a hand to the international community and is waiting for it to do the same," he said.

Shaibani's visit to the UN comes after Syria's central bank governor and finance minister this week attended spring meetings with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, for the first time in more than 20 years.