Senior US delegation in Syria for talks with HTS ‘terrorists’
A senior delegation of US diplomats has arrived in Syria to speak directly to the representatives of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which is designated a terrorist group by Washington.
A State Department spokesperson said the US officials will speak with HTS rulers about “their vision for the future of their country and how the United States can help support them”.
The delegation includes top State Department official for West Asia Barbara Leaf and Daniel Rubinstein, who is being put in charge of engagement on Syria. The trip comes a week after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US had been in direct contact with HTS.
“It’s important to have direct communication,” Blinken told Bloomberg. “It’s important to speak as clearly as possible, to listen, to make sure that we understand as best we can where they’re going and where they want to go. So we’ll be looking at pursuing that in the coming days.”
This is the first formal US diplomatic mission to Damascus since 2011 when Takfiri terrorists from around the world trickled into Syria and unleashed a brutal war on the country.
The period saw the US intensify its sanctions on Syria which culminated in the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad this month.
The US closed its own embassy in Damascus in February 2012, with the Czech Republic representing US interests in the country.
In a statement issued last week, the US said it would be prepared to recognize Syria’s new government if certain conditions were met.
Much has been made of Jolani’s position - or lack thereof - on Israel, which has bombed more than 500 targets in Syria since the ousting of Assad. Israel has also made new land grab inside Syria including what it calls its "buffer zone" in the Golan Heights, which the regime illegally occupies under international law.
Throughout the intensified Israeli aggression, HTS and other Takfiri groups have stood by and watched.
Observers say the fact that Jolani told the UK newspaper The Times that Syria would not threaten Israel may very well be a bid to secure recognition from the West, especially the US, leading to the decisions being made in Washington now.
HTS has roots in al-Qaeda. The US has also set a $10 million bounty on HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani who is now presented by his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Sharaa on Monday met with the UN envoy for Syria, Geir Pederson, and a day later with a German delegation. French diplomats returned to their embassy in Damascus, raising the tricolor flag for the first time since 2012.
In 2020, the EU accused HTS of unlawfully detaining, torturing and murdering civilians living in areas under the group's control and said this may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.
US doubles troops in Syria
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has disclosed it secretly doubled the number of US troops in northeast Syria from 900 to 2,000 soldiers before militants began their swift takeover of the country.
The figures were revealed on Thursday due to “sensitivity from a diplomatic and operational security standpoint”, Pentagon Press Secretary Patrick Ryder explained during a briefing.
The US military has for long stationed its forces and equipment in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.
The United States regularly conducts airstrikes in Syria under the pretext of fighting terrorism.
The former Damascus government maintained that the deployment was meant to plunder the country’s natural resources. Former US president and current president-elect Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that American forces were in the Arab country for its oil wealth.
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