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American officials will be in Damascus on Friday for talks with the country’s new leaders, the first group of American diplomats to formally visit Syria in more than a decade since Washington closed its embassy in Damascus in 2012.
Undersecretary 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 to talk with acting leaders of Syria, the State Department said early Friday.
“They will engage 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 them,” the State said. the Department said.
The group will emphasize the principles of inclusion, protection of minorities and rejection of terrorism and chemical weapons that the Biden administration says will be critical to any US support for a new government established after the ouster of President Bashar al- Assad earlier this year. month. Assad fled and was granted asylum by his patron Russia, ending his family’s decades-long rule in Syria.
The American delegation’s trip follows contacts with France and Great Britain in recent days.
Golani once wanted by the United States
US President Joe Biden and his top advisers described Assad’s overthrow as a historic opportunity for the Syrian people who have lived for decades under his oppressive rule, but also warned that the country faced a period of risk and uncertainty.
The rebel group that led the assault on Damascus that forced Assad to flee – Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS – is designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and others. The designation came after the Nusra Front, the predecessor of the HTS, carried out suicide attacks that killed civilians and espoused a violent sectarian vision.
WATCH l More on the rebel leader who emerged after Assad’s fall:
Rebel leader Abu Mohammed Al-Golani will play an important role in Syria’s future. The National’s Ellen Mauro looks at how he rose through the rebel ranks and how his leadership could impact the country.
While that designation comes with a series of sanctions, it does not prohibit US officials from speaking with its members or leaders.
HTS replaced the Assad family government with a three-month-old transitional government that had been ruling a rebel enclave in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.
The State Department said Rubinstein, Leaf and Carstens would meet with HTS officials, but did not say whether the group’s leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammed Al-Golani, would be among those who would see.
Seven years ago, the FBI offered a reward of up to $10 million for information on the whereabouts of Golani, now 42 years old.
In 2003, he joined insurgents fighting American troops in Iraq. The Syrian native was detained by the US military for a time, but was released and eventually found his way back to Syria, establishing the Nusra Front before breaking with his previous affiliations with Al Qaeda and ISIS.
WATCH l Cautious optimism among Syrian-Canadians after Assad’s fall:
Raw emotions boiled over as Syrians in Canada gathered in the days after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s oppressive regime to make sense of what happened and share their hopes for the future.
Golani has conducted interviews with Western media outlets in recent weeks; U.S. officials say Golani’s public statements about protecting minority and women’s rights are welcome, but they remain skeptical that he will follow through on them in the long term.
The diplomats’ visit to Damascus will not result in 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 define their intentions. . clear.
The size of the troops 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 troops in small parts of Syria engaged in the fight against the Islamic State militant group.
But the Pentagon revealed on Thursday that the United States had doubled the number of its forces in Syria to fight ISIS before Assad’s fall to 2,000 troops.
“These additional forces are considered temporary rotational forces that are deployed to meet changing mission requirements, while the 900 core elements are on longer-term deployments.”
The United States has also significantly stepped up airstrikes against ISIS targets over fears that a power vacuum would allow the militant group to reconstitute.
Washington remains concerned that the ISIS extremist group could seize the moment to resurrect itself and also wants to avoid any clashes in the country’s northeast between Turkish-backed rebel factions and the U.S.-allied Kurdish militia.
A priority for US officials will be seeking information on the whereabouts of missing US journalist Austin Tice and other US citizens who disappeared during the Assad regime.
Tice disappeared at a checkpoint in a disputed area west of Damascus as the Syrian civil war escalated. A video released weeks after Tice disappeared showed him blindfolded and held by armed men and saying, “Oh, Jesus.”
He has not been heard from since. Assad’s government publicly denied it was holding him.
