US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that US officials were in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group behind the attack. overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad government but is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and others.
Blinken is the first U.S. 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 ousted Assad from power last Sunday.
Speaking at a news conference in Aqaba, Jordan, Blinken would not discuss details of the contacts but said it was important for the United States to convey messages to the group about its conduct and the way they intend to govern during a period of transition.
“Yes, we have been in contact with HTS and other parties,” Blinken said. He added that “our message to the Syrian people is: we want them to succeed and we are ready to help them achieve that.”
Blinken also said officials are also “communicating directly with those in positions of authority in Syria.”
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
HTS, which was formerly an affiliate of Al-Qaeda, has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department since 2018. The designation carries heavy sanctions, including a ban on providing any “material support” to the group. or its members. The sanctions, however, do not legally prohibit U.S. officials from communicating with designated groups.
In an interview Saturday on Syrian television, the group’s leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, did not discuss any direct contact with the United States, but said the new authorities in Syria Damascusthe capital, are in contact with Western embassies.
HTS worked to establish security and begin a political transition after taking Damascus and tried to reassure a population both stunned by Assad’s fall and concerned about extremist jihadists among the rebels. Insurgent leaders say the group has broken with its extremist past.
Al-Sharaa appeared in a video message Friday congratulating “the great Syrian people on the victory of the blessed revolution.”
U.S. officials say al-Sharaa has made welcome comments about protecting the rights of minorities and women, but remain skeptical about its ability to follow through on those comments in the long term.
“We know that what happens inside Syria can have far-reaching consequences far beyond its borders, from mass displacement to terrorism, and we know that we cannot underestimate the challenges of the moment and weeks and months to come,” Blinken said Saturday. .
Rebels and Syria’s unarmed opposition worked Friday to safely hand over to U.S. authorities an American imprisoned by Assad.
Blinken said U.S. officials were continuing “our own strenuous and determined efforts” in their search for Austin TiceAmerican journalist who disappeared 12 years ago near Damascus.
“We’ve made it clear to everyone we’ve been in contact with the importance of helping find Austin Tice and bring him home,” Blinken said.
Travis Timmerman, the American who said he was released from a Syrian prison after Assad’s ouster, was expelled from the country by the US military, CBS News reported earlier this week.
