AQABA, Jordan (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned Saturday that American officers have been in direct contact with the Syrian insurgent group that spearheaded the overthrow of President Bashar Assad’s authorities however is designated a international terrorist group by the United States and others.
Blinken is the primary U.S. official to publicly affirm contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which led a coalition of armed opposition teams that ousted Assad from energy final Sunday.
Speaking at a information convention in Aqaba, Jordan, Blinken wouldn’t focus on particulars of the contacts however mentioned it was necessary for the U.S. to convey messages to the group about its conduct and the way it intends to manipulate in a transition interval.
“Yes, we have now been in touch with HTS and with different events,” Blinken mentioned. He added that “our message to the Syrian folks is that this: We need them to succeed and we’re ready to assist them accomplish that.”
HTS, which was as soon as an affiliate of al-Qaida, has been designed as a international terrorist group by the State Department since 2018. That designation carries with it extreme sanctions, together with a ban on the availability of any “materials assist” to the group or its members. The sanctions don’t, nonetheless, legally bar U.S. officers from speaking with designated teams.
In an interview Saturday on Syrian tv, the group’s chief, Ahmad al-Sharaa, previously often known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, didn’t handle any direct contact with the United States, however mentioned the brand new authorities in Damascus, the capital, are in contact with Western embassies.
HTS has labored to determine safety and begin a political transition after seizing Damascus and has tried to reassure a public each surprised by Assad’s fall and anxious about extremist jihadis among the many rebels. Insurgent leaders say the group has damaged with its extremist previous.
Al-Sharaa appeared in a video message Friday congratulating “the good Syrian folks for the victory of the blessed revolution.”
U.S. officers say al-Sharaa has been making welcome feedback about defending minority and ladies’s rights however stay skeptical that he’ll observe by way of on them in the long term.
On Friday, the rebels and Syria’s unarmed opposition labored to securely flip over to U.S. officers an American man who had been imprisoned by Assad.
U.S. officers are persevering with their seek for Austin Tice, an American journalist who disappeared 12 years in the past close to Damascus.
“We have impressed upon everybody we’ve been in touch with the significance of serving to discover Austin Tice and bringing him residence,” Blinken mentioned.
