WASHINGTON: High diplomats from the Biden administration are in Damascus on Friday (Dec 20) to fulfill new Syrian authorities led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a State Division spokesperson mentioned, the primary in-person and official assembly between Washington and Syria’s de-facto new rulers.
The State Division’s prime Center East diplomat Barbara Leaf, Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens and newly appointed Senior Advisor Daniel Rubinstein, who’s now tasked with main the Division’s Syria engagement, are the primary US diplomats to journey to Damascus since Syria’s opposition militias overthrew oppressive President Bashar al-Assad.
The go to comes as Western governments are step by step opening channels to HTS and its chief Ahmed al-Sharaa, and begin debating whether or not or to not take away the terrorist designation on the group. The US delegation’s journey follows contacts with France and Britain in latest days.
Of their conferences, the US officers will talk about with HTS representatives a set of ideas akin to inclusivity and respect for the rights of minorities that Washington desires included in Syria’s political transition, the spokesperson mentioned.
The delegation can even work to acquire new details about US journalist Austin Tice, who was taken captive throughout a reporting journey to Syria in August 2012, and different Americans who went lacking throughout the Assad regime.
“They are going to be partaking instantly with the Syrian folks, together with members of civil society, activists, members of various communities, and different Syrian voices about their imaginative and prescient for the way forward for their nation and the way the USA might help assist them,” the division spokesperson mentioned.
“Additionally they plan to fulfill with representatives of HTS to debate transition ideas endorsed by the USA and regional companions in Aqaba, Jordan,” the spokesperson mentioned.
