ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - United States government officials met with Syria’s new rulers in Damascus on Friday.
Barbara Leaf, US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, met with representatives of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) “to discuss principles agreed upon by the U.S. and partners in Aqaba - support for an inclusive Syrian led political process that results in representative government, which respects the rights of all Syrians,” the US embassy in Syria said in a post on X.
They also discussed Syria’s intention to be a “good neighbor” as well as the importance of common counter-terrorism efforts, the embassy added.
The US embassy building in Damascus has been closed since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in 2011.
HTS, the successor of the al-Nusra Front, has its roots in al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch. It has long controlled a rebel enclave in the northwestern province of Idlib and is designated a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union.
Leaf later said during an online press briefing that they had informed HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharra, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, that they no longer pursue a $10 million reward on his head.
The group led a blistering offensive against Bashar al-Assad’s regime late last month, securing major cities on the road to Damascus before taking the capital on December 8 as Assad fled the country, ending over five decades of Baathist rule.
Jordan this week hosted a summit of Arab foreign ministers joined by Turkey, the EU, and the US in Aqaba. In a final joint communique, they called for a “peaceful political transition” that includes all the people of Syria under the watch of the United Nations, an immediate ceasefire, and a commitment to combating terrorism.
