US officials on first diplomatic trip to Syria since al-Assad’s removal | News

Team to hold talks with country’s new leaders, including HTS, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the US.

The first US diplomats to visit Syria since President Bashar al-Assad was removed earlier this month have held talks with the country’s new leaders, including the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that is designated as a “terrorist” organisation by the US.

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, former Special Envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein and the government’s chief envoy for hostage affairs, Roger Carstens, were in the capital, Damascus, on Friday, the State Department said.

“They will be engaging directly with the Syrian people, including members of civil society, activists, members of different communities, and other Syrian voices about their vision for the future of their country and how the United States can help support them,” it said in a statement.

At the top of their agenda will be the interim government’s “vision for the future of their country and how the United States can help support them”.

Western states have been mulling over whether to lift HTS’s “terrorist” designation, which comes with a group of sanctions. It, however, does not prohibit US officials from speaking to its members or leaders.

The State Department said Rubinstein, Leaf and Carstens would meet with HTS officials but did not say whether these would include the group’s leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaeda.

A news conference had been scheduled with the US officials but a statement issued on behalf of Leaf later on Friday said it was cancelled for security concerns, without providing details.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the US admitted it had about 2,000 troops in Syria, more than double the previous estimate. The US started sending troops to Syria in 2014 with the stated objective of defeating ISIL (ISIS), but US forces remained in the country after the group’s territorial defeat in 2017.

Washington would also be seeking information about American journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012. Carstens travelled previously to Lebanon to seek information.

On Friday, the UN Human Rights Office said it would also send a small team of human rights officers to Syria next week.