WASHINGTON — Top U.S. officials arrived in Damascus on Friday in their first diplomatic visit to the Syrian capital since the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad this month.
A U.S. delegation led by Barbara Leaf, the department’s top Middle East official, is expected to meet with members of the Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group, a State Department spokesman said. The group is Syria’s de facto government.
In a statement, the spokesperson said the discussions are expected to focus on expectations for an inclusive Syrian government transition and “the hope of uncovering information about Austin Tice, Majid Kamalmaz and other U.S. citizens who disappeared under the Assad regime.” Message of Destiny”. statement.
Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, who traveled to Damascus in 2020 for secret negotiations on Taice during the first Trump administration, was also a member of the delegation.
In addition to HTS, diplomats will meet with members of civil society, activists, members of different communities and other Syrians “to discuss their vision for the country’s future and how the United States can help support them,” the spokesman said.
Daniel Rubenstein, senior adviser in the State Department’s Middle East bureau, will lead the State Department’s diplomatic engagement on Syria and will “engage directly with the Syrian people and key parties in Syria and coordinate with allies and partners,” the spokesperson said.
Since Assad’s ouster, the Biden administration has faced increasing pressure to send U.S. personnel on the ground to help find Theis, who was kidnapped in Syria 12 years ago.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that the United States was in contact with “every participant who may have access to information.” This involves everyone who has some relationship with the different rising authorities in Syria.
“Any information we get, any lead we have, we follow it. We have the means to do that no matter where we are,” Blinken said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I can tell you the No. 1 priority is getting Austin.”
The visit by a U.S. delegation comes after French, British and German diplomats visited Damascus this week, with HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani calling for the lifting of international sanctions against him and the rebel group.
HTS remains a designated terrorist organization in the United States, with a $10 million bounty on Giolani’s head. The sanctions did not prevent the U.S. delegation from meeting or talking to HTS, but it limited the provision of material support, causing problems for humanitarian aid organizations that have spent the past decade working to assist refugees and internally displaced people who have been returning to their home countries.
According to NBC News, the Biden administration is exploring removing HTS from the terrorist list, but the administration has also outlined a list of conditions that must be met before the United States can formally recognize the Syrian government.
“Our view is that whatever government emerges from this transition process, it needs to be inclusive, it needs to protect the rights of all Syrians, including women and minorities, and like all governments, it needs to retain key state institutions. and provide essential services,” State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said Thursday. “Perhaps most importantly, we want to see that Syria does not pose a threat to its neighbors or the region, nor does it become a base for terrorism or a place aligned with groups such as ISIS.”