Top US diplomats from the Biden administration are in Damascus on Friday to meet with the new Syrian authorities led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a State Department spokesman said, the first personal and official meeting between Washington and A new de-facto Syria. managers.
The diplomats will also seek information about the whereabouts of the missing American journalist Austin Tice.
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, former special envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein and the Biden administration's top envoy for hostile talks, Roger Carstens, are the first American diplomats to travel to Damascus since opposition militias Syria ousted brutal President Bashar al-Assad.
The visit comes as Western governments gradually open channels to HTS and its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, and begin debating whether to remove the group's terrorist designation. The US delegation's trip follows talks with France and Britain in recent days.
In their meetings, US officials will discuss with HTS representatives a set of principles such as inclusiveness and respect for the rights of minorities that Washington wants to be included in the Syrian political movement, the spokesman said. .
Journalist kidnapped in 2012
The delegation will also work to obtain new information about Tice, who was taken captive on a reporting trip to Syria in August 2012, and other American citizens who have gone missing during the Assad regime.
“They will communicate directly with the Syrian people, including members of civil society, activists, members of different communities, and other Syrian voices about their vision for the future of their country and how that the United States can support,” the department said. a spokesman said.
“They also plan to meet with representatives of HTS to discuss transfer principles agreed with the United States and regional partners in Aqaba, Jordan,” the spokesman said.
The United States cut diplomatic ties with Syria and closed its embassy in Damascus in 2012.
In a seismic moment for the Middle East, Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on December 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war, ending his family's decades-long rule.
The lightning raised questions about whether the rebels would be able to ensure an orderly movement
The US considers a rebel leader a terrorist
Forces led by Ahmed Al-Sharaa – better known as Abu Mohammed Al-Golani – installed a three-month transitional government to replace the rule of the Assad family who had been ruling a rebel stronghold in the north-western region of Syria in Idlib.
Washington in 2013 designated Al-Sharaa as a terrorist, saying that al-Qaeda in Iraq had called for the overthrow of the Assad regime and the establishment of Islamic sharia law in Syria. They said the Nusra Front, the predecessor of HTS, carried out suicide attacks that killed civilians and engaged in violent sectarian violence.
US President Joe Biden and his top aides described Assad's ouster as a historic opportunity for the Syrian people who have lived under his oppressive rule for decades, but they also warned that the country was in danger and uncertainty.
Washington remains concerned that the terrorist group ISIS could seize the moment for a resurgence and also wants to avoid any clashes in the north-east of the country between rebel groups supported by Turkey and the Kurdish militia of the United States .
