US officials are scheduled to arrive in Damascus on Friday for talks with the country’s new leaders, the first group of US diplomats to officially visit Syria in more than a decade since Washington closed its embassy in Damascus in 2012.
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 hostage negotiations, Roger Carstens, made the trip for talks with interim Syrian leaders, the State Department said early Friday.
The State Department added: “They will communicate directly with the Syrian people, including members of civil society, 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 department said.
The group will emphasize the principles of inclusion, protection of minorities, and rejection of terrorism and chemical weapons, which the Biden administration says will be crucial to any US support for a new government formed following the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad earlier this year. month. Assad fled and gained asylum from Russia, ending his family’s decades-long rule of Syria.
The American delegation’s travel comes after contacts with France and Britain in recent days.
Al-Julani was once requested by the United States
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.
The rebel group that led the attack on Damascus that forced Assad to flee — Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham — has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and other countries. This classification came after Jabhat al-Nusra, the predecessor of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, carried out suicide attacks that killed civilians and adopted a violent sectarian vision.
Rebel leader Abu Muhammad al-Julani is expected to play a major role in Syria’s future. The National’s Eileen Mauro explains how he rose through the rebel ranks and how his leadership could impact the country.
While this designation comes with a host of sanctions, it does not prevent US officials from speaking to its members or leaders.
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham replaced Assad family rule with a three-month transitional government that ruled a rebel enclave in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.
The State Department said Rubinstein, Lev and Carstens would meet with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham officials, but did not say whether the group’s leader Ahmed al-Sharaa – known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani – would be among those they would meet.
Seven years ago, the FBI offered a reward of up to $10 million for information about the whereabouts of Al-Julani, now 42 years old.
In 2003, he joined insurgents fighting US forces in Iraq. The Syrian national was detained by the US military for some time but was released and eventually found his way to Syria, where he founded the Al-Nusra Front before eventually separating from his previous affiliations with Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Raw emotions ran high as Syrians gathered in Canada in the days after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s oppressive regime to understand what had happened and share their hopes for the future.
Al-Julani has given interviews to Western media in recent weeks. US officials say Al-Julani’s public statements about protecting the rights of minorities and women are welcome, but they remain skeptical that he will follow through on them in the long term.
The diplomats’ visit to Damascus will not lead to the immediate reopening of the US Embassy, which is under the protection of the Czech government, according to US officials, who said decisions on diplomatic recognition will be made when the new Syrian authorities announce their intentions. clear.
The size of the forces is more than double what was previously known
While the United States suspended operations at its embassy in Damascus during the country’s civil war, there are American forces in small parts of Syria involved in the fight against ISIS.
But the Pentagon revealed Thursday that the United States had doubled the number of its forces in Syria to fight ISIS before the fall of Assad, to 2,000 soldiers.
“These additional forces are temporary rotational forces deployed to meet changing mission requirements, while the 900 core forces are on longer-term deployments.”
The United States has also significantly intensified its airstrikes against ISIS targets out of concern that a power vacuum will allow the militant group to reconstitute itself.
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.
The priority for US officials will be to obtain information about the whereabouts of missing American journalist Austin Tice, and other American citizens who went missing during the Assad regime.
Tice disappeared at a checkpoint in a disputed area west of Damascus as the Syrian civil war intensified. A video posted weeks after Tice’s disappearance showed him, blindfolded and held by armed men, saying: “Oh my God.”
He has not been heard from since. Assad’s government has publicly denied that it is detaining him.
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