Is Syria at risk of civil war? US issues catastrophic warning

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Tuesday that Syria could be weeks away from a civil war of "epic proportions" and called for support for the transitional government.

Islamist-led fighters overthrew former President Bashar al-Assad in December in a lightning offensive following a brutal civil war that began in 2011.

The country has recently been the scene of bloody attacks against the Alawite and Druze minorities.

"Frankly, our assessment is that the transitional authorities, given the challenges they face, are perhaps weeks, not many months, away from a potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions, essentially the division of the country," Rubio said in an appearance before the Senate.

Last week, US President Donald Trump announced the lifting of Assad-era sanctions during a visit to Saudi Arabia and met with Syria's current transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was until recently on a US wanted list for his jihadist connections.

Rubio joked, "The transitional authority figures didn't pass the FBI background check," the federal police said.

But he added: "If we engage with them, it might work, it might not. If we don't engage with them, it's guaranteed not to work."

Rubio, who also met with Syria's foreign minister in Turkey on Thursday, blamed the recent violence on the legacy of Assad, a largely secular leader from the Alawite community.

"They're dealing with a deep internal distrust in that country, because Assad deliberately pitted these groups against each other," Rubio said.

Turkey, one of the main backers of Islamist militants fighting against Assad, an ally of Iran and Russia, and Saudi Arabia had called on the United States to shift its policy toward Syria.

According to Rubio, the main reason for lifting the sanctions is to allow other countries to provide aid.

"The nations of the region want to deliver aid, they want to start helping them, and they can't because they're afraid of our sanctions," he said.

According to the top diplomat, Trump also plans to waive the Caesar Act, which imposed sanctions and restrictions on Bashar al-Assad's Syria.

Rubio explained to lawmakers that this law will likely have to be rescinded if the temporary exemptions are insufficient.

European Union countries on Tuesday gave the green light to lifting all economic sanctions against Syria , including those isolating Syrian financial institutions and freezing the central bank's assets, but maintaining sanctions imposed on individuals for fueling ethnic tensions.

Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani welcomed the lifting of sanctions by the United States and other powers on Tuesday, saying it provides "a very important and historic opportunity to rebuild" the country.