Senior US diplomats from the Biden administration arrived in Damascus on Friday to meet with the new Syrian authorities led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, a US State Department spokesman said, the first in-person and official meeting between Washington and the new Syrian government. Rulers.
Diplomats will also seek information about the whereabouts of missing American journalist Austin Tice.
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Liff, former special envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein, and the Biden administration’s lead envoy for hostage negotiations, Roger Carstens, are the first US diplomats to travel to Damascus since Syrian opposition militias ousted repressive President Bashar al-Assad. Lion.
The visit comes at a time when Western governments are gradually opening their channels with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, and beginning to discuss whether or not to remove the terrorist designation from the group. The American delegation’s travel comes after contacts with France and Britain in recent days.
The spokesman said that American officials will discuss during their meetings with representatives of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham a set of principles, such as inclusiveness and respect for the rights of minorities, that Washington wants to include in the political transition process in Syria.
Journalist kidnapped in 2012
The delegation will also work to obtain new information about Tice, who was captured during a press trip to Syria in August 2012, and other American citizens who disappeared during the Assad regime.
The ministry added: “They will communicate directly with the Syrian people, including civil society members, activists, members of various communities, and other Syrian voices about their vision for their country’s future and how the United States can help support them.” The spokesperson said.
“They also plan to meet with representatives of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham to discuss the transitional principles approved by the United States and regional partners in Aqaba, Jordan,” the spokesman said.
The United States severed diplomatic relations with Syria and closed its embassy in Damascus in 2012.
In a seismic moment for the Middle East, Syrian rebels took 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 attack raised questions about whether the rebels would be able to ensure orderly passage
The United States considers the rebel leader a terrorist
Forces under the command of Ahmed al-Sharaa – known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani – replaced the rule of the Assad family with a three-month transitional government that ruled a rebel enclave in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.
In 2013, Washington classified Al-Sharaa as a terrorist, saying that Al-Qaeda in Iraq had commissioned him to overthrow Assad’s rule and impose Islamic law in Syria. It said that Jabhat al-Nusra, the predecessor of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, carried out suicide attacks that killed civilians and adopted a violent sectarian vision.
US President Joe Biden and his senior aides described Assad’s ouster as a historic opportunity for the Syrian people who have lived for decades under his oppressive rule, but they also warned that the country faces a period of risk and uncertainty.
Washington remains concerned that the extremist group ISIS may seize this moment to make a comeback, and also wants to avoid any clashes in the country’s northeast between Turkish-backed rebel factions and Kurdish militias allied with the United States.
https://i.cbc.ca/1.7416011.1734681032!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_1180/damascus-protest.jpg?im=Resize%3D620
Source link