The United Nations human rights chief has called for the lifting of Western sanctions imposed on Syria over its yearslong civil war, now that former leader Bashar Assad has been ousted and sent into exile.

The UN rights chief calls for sanctions relief as he visits Syria for the first time::::Damascus, Syria ::Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights"The people of Syria need every ounce of help they can get to rebuild a country that works for all Syrians.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called on Wednesday for a Syrian national reconciliation process to ensure justice for crimes committed over the past five decades of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family.

United Nations rights chief Volker Turk on Wednesday said transitional justice was "crucial" for Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, during the first-ever visit by someone in his post to the country.