U.S. in direct contact with Syrian rebels who ousted Assad, Blinken says
AQABA, Jordan — American officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that spearheaded the overthrow of President Bashar Assad’s government, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Saturday.
Blinken, speaking at a news conference in Jordan, is the first U.S. official to publicly confirm contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al Sham, which is designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and others.
The group led a coalition of armed opposition groups that drove Assad from power and into aslyum in Russia last weekend. It was a lightning end to a horrific civil war that began in 2011 with the former leader‘s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
Blinken would not discuss details of the contacts but said it was important for the U.S. to convey messages to the group, known as HTS, about its conduct and how it intends 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’re prepared to help them do so.”
Loved ones are now searching for the estimated 150,000 people who were detained and disappeared in Bashar Assad’s Syrian government gulags.
Along with counterparts from eight Arab nations and Turkey and senior officials from the European Union and United Nations, Blinken signed off on a set of principles meant to guide Syria’s transition to a peaceful, nonsectarian and inclusive country.
Hayat Tahrir al Sham, which was once an Al Qaeda affiliate, has been designed as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department since 2018. That designation carries with it severe sanctions, including a ban on the provision of any “material support” to the group or its members.
The sanctions do not, however, legally bar 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 address any direct contact with the United States, but said the new authorities in Damascus are in touch with Western embassies.
He also said that “we don’t intend to enter any conflict because there is general exhaustion in Syria.”
The rebel group has worked to establish security and start a political transition after seizing Damascus and has tried to reassure a public both stunned by Assad’s fall and concerned about extremist jihadis among the rebels. Insurgent leaders say the group has broken with its extremist past.
Syria now searches for a new identity, as Damascus residents face a future without President Bashar Assad.
Blinken also stressed that “the success that we’ve had in ending the territorial caliphate” of the Islamic State group remains “a critical mission.” And he said it was crucial that the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish fighters who in recent years drove Islamic State out of large areas of Syria, continue so the extremists do not use a “moment of instability” in the country to regroup.
A joint statement after the meeting of foreign ministers urged all parties to cease hostilities in Syria and expressed support for a locally led transitional political process. It called for preventing the reemergence of extremist groups and ensuring the security and safe destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles.
“We don’t want Syria to fall into chaos,” Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, told journalists.
A separate statement by Arab foreign ministers called for U.N.-supervised elections based on a new constitution approved by Syrians. Their statement condemned Israel’s incursion into the buffer zone with Syria and adjacent sites over the last week as a “heinous occupation” and demanded the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
U.S. officials say Al Sharaa has been making welcome comments about protecting minority and women’s rights but they remain skeptical that he will follow through.
On Friday, the rebels helped turn over to U.S. officials an American man who had been imprisoned by Assad.
Travis Timmerman, 29, was flown to Jordan on a U.S. military helicopter, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation.
U.S. officials are continuing their search for Austin Tice, an American journalist who disappeared 12 years ago near Damascus. “We have impressed upon everyone we’ve been in contact with the importance of helping find Austin Tice and bringing him home,” Blinken said.
Lee writes for the Associated Press. Times staff contributed to this report.
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