The US is ready to remove the $10 million bounty on the Syrian leader. Abu Muhammad al-JolaniHead of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad earlier this month.
The decision follows Friday’s meetings between US diplomats and the HTS in Damascus, in which Jolani vowed to ensure terrorist groups in Syria are ready for the US and its allies. Don’t be alarmed, said Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf. The high-level US delegation’s visit to the Syrian capital was the first of its kind since the fall of the regime.
Leif, who led the delegation, described the meetings with the interim government as “pretty good, very productive” and “detailed”, covering both domestic and foreign issues. Leaf said Jolani himself came across as “pragmatic”.
“We have been hearing for some time, some very pragmatic and moderate statements on various issues, from women’s rights to protecting equal rights for all communities and so on,” Leaf told reporters. “Again, it was a good first meeting. We will judge by actions, not just words. Actions are what matter.”
U.S. diplomats also called for continued attention by the Biden administration to determining the fate of Americans detained or missing in Syria, including Austin Tice and Majid Kamalmaz. Roger Carstens, the President’s Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Traveled to Damascus in 2020. He was also part of the delegation for secret talks on TICE during the first term of the Trump administration. Carstens said the information available so far does not confirm whether Tice, the American journalist kidnapped in Syria 12 years ago, is still alive.
“What I can tell you is, the president of the United States said recently that he believes Austin is alive, and it’s our duty to continue to push to see if we can get him. Get all the information we can possibly get. Realize, for sure, what happened to him, where he is, and get him home,” Carstens told reporters after the meetings.
Carstens said the U.S. has focused on six specific prison sites where it believes Tice was held at some point and that the U.S. will have a duty to conduct a thorough search in the coming weeks. Take and “Okay. Organize evidence gathering in a way that only the FBI can do.”
In addition to HTS, diplomats met with civil society members, activists, members of various communities and other Syrians “to discuss their vision for the future of their country and how America can help them.”
“We met with many brave White Helmets to reaffirm our continued support for their life-saving efforts and tireless work to change Syria for the betterment of all Syrians,” Leif told reporters. Can.” “We also held a commemoration in honor of the tens of thousands of Syrians and non-Syrians who were detained, tortured, forcibly disappeared or disappeared, and brutally killed by the former regime. Done.”
Daniel Rubinstein, a senior adviser in the State Department’s Middle East bureau who will lead the department’s diplomatic engagement on Syria from Washington, said the United States hopes to have more diplomatic missions in Damascus.
“Obviously we need to look at operational conditions,” Rubenstein said. “We were able to make a successful visit today, and we will try to do them carefully and more often in practice.”
The US delegation’s visit follows visits by diplomats from France, Britain and Germany to Damascus this week after Jolani called for the lifting of international sanctions against HTS, which the US has designated as a terrorist group.
Current U.S. sanctions, including the terrorist designation, do not prevent the government from meeting or talking with HTS, but they do limit the delivery of material aid, allowing both refugees and displaced persons to return to Syria. Complications arise for humanitarian aid groups working to help. Within it for the last decade.
The Biden administration is seeking to remove HTS from the terrorist list. NBC News reported.But the administration also laid out a list of conditions the group must meet before the U.S. formally recognizes the Syrian government.
“Our view is that when any government emerges from this transition, it needs to be inclusive, it needs to protect the rights of all Syrians, including women and minorities, like all governments, it needs to empower key state institutions. It is necessary to preserve and provide essential services,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Thursday. “And perhaps most importantly, we want to see a Syria that is not a threat to its neighbors or regions or a place that serves as a base for terrorism or allies with groups like ISIS. “