U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated 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 america and others.
Blinken is the primary U.S. official to publicly verify 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.
Talking at a information convention in Aqaba, Jordan, Blinken wouldn’t talk about particulars of the contacts however stated 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.
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“Sure, now we have been in touch with HTS and with different events,” Blinken stated. He added that “our message to the Syrian individuals is that this: We would like 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 Division since 2018. That designation carries with it extreme sanctions, together with a ban on the supply 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.
HTS has labored to ascertain safety and begin a political transition after seizing Damascus and has tried to reassure a public each shocked by Assad’s fall and anxious about extremist jihadis among the many rebels. Rebel leaders say the group has damaged with its extremist previous.
The group’s chief, Ahmad al-Sharaa, previously referred to as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, appeared in a video message Friday congratulating “the good Syrian individuals for the victory of the blessed revolution.”
U.S. officers say Sharaa has been making welcome feedback about defending minority and girls’s rights however stay skeptical that he’ll comply with via on them in the long term.
On Friday, the rebels and Syria’s unarmed opposition labored to soundly 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 now have impressed upon everybody we’ve been in touch with the significance of serving to discover Austin Tice and bringing him dwelling,” Blinken stated.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
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