US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that US officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group leading the fighting. overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad government, but is designated by the United States and others as a foreign terrorist organization.
Blinken is the first US official to publicly confirm contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which led a coalition of armed opposition groups that Assad removed from power last Sunday.
At a news conference in Aqaba, Jordan, Blinken declined to discuss the details of the contacts but said it is important for the US to convey messages to the group about their behavior and how they plan to govern in a transition period.
“Yes, we have been in contact with HTS and with other parties,” Blinken said. He added that “our message to the Syrian people is this: we want them to succeed and we are ready to help them do so.”
Blinken also said officials are “also communicating directly with those in positions of authority in Syria.”
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
HTS, once an affiliate of al-Qaeda, has been designed by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization since 2018. This designation carries strict sanctions, including a ban on providing any ‘material support’ to the group. or its members. However, the sanctions do not legally prohibit U.S. officials from communicating with certain groups.
In an interview Saturday on Syrian television, the group’s leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, did not elaborate on any direct contact with the United States, but said the new authorities in Damascusthe capital, are in contact with Western embassies.
HTS has worked to achieve security and initiate a political transition after the capture of Damascus and has sought to reassure a public both stunned by Assad’s fall and concerned about extremist jihadists among the rebels. Rebel leaders say the group has broken with its extremist past.
Al-Sharaa appeared in a video message on Friday in which he “congratulated the great Syrian people on the victory of the blessed revolution.”
U.S. officials say al-Sharaa has made welcome comments on protecting the rights of minorities and women, but remain skeptical about whether he will follow through in the long term.
“We know that what happens inside Syria can have powerful consequences far beyond its borders, from mass displacement to terrorism, and we know that we cannot underestimate the challenges of this moment and in the weeks and months ahead,” Blinken said on Saturday . .
On Friday, rebels and unarmed opposition in Syria attempted to safely hand over an American man jailed by Assad to American officials.
Blinken said U.S. officials are continuing “our own persistent, determined efforts” as they search Austin Tijsan American journalist who disappeared near Damascus twelve years ago.
“We have impressed upon everyone we have been in contact with the importance of helping find Austin Tice and bringing him home,” Blinken said.
Travis Timmerman, the American who said he had been released from a Syrian prison after the ouster of Assad, the country was deported by the US military, CBS News reported earlier this week.
