Damascus, Dec 20 (IANS) A high-level US delegation met with Ahmad al-Shara, the commander of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), on Friday.
In a statement, the US State Department said the diplomats “will be engaging directly with the Syrian people … about their vision for the future of their country and how the United States can help support them.”
The officials are Barbara Leaf, the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs; Roger D. Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs; and Daniel Rubinstein, former special envoy for Syria.
Syria’s local news outlet al-Watan Online said the meeting will discuss sanctions relief on Syria and the possible removal of the HTS from international terrorism lists, Xinhua news agency reported.
The rare US diplomatic engagement with al-Shara in the Syrian capital reflected a rapidly changing political environment following the fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad’s government nearly two weeks ago.
The US team’s arrival in Syria follows a flurry of visits by UN officials and European delegations from Britain, France, and Germany, signaling a concerted effort by international players to influence the shape of Syria’s post-conflict governance.
The al-Assad government collapsed as a militant coalition led by the HTS captured the capital Damascus earlier this month. The HTS is still classified as a terrorist group by the United Nations, the United States, and Turkey, among others.
Earlier this week, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, had said that his forces are willing to propose a “demilitarised zone” in the border city of Kobani in the northern countryside of Aleppo.
He made the remarks on Tuesday on the social media platform X, expressing SDF’s readiness to establish a buffer area in Kobani, with the redeployment of security forces under US supervision and presence.
This move, he said, aims to “address Turkish security concerns and ensure lasting stability in the region”.
In a separate statement, the SDF accused Turkey of preparing an offensive against Kobani, claiming that Turkish forces and allied fighters have massed heavy weapons near the city.
The US-backed Kurdish forces have withdrawn from Manbij, a strategic city in northern Aleppo province that they had controlled since capturing it from Islamic State in 2016.
Earlier on Tuesday, the US said it had brokered an extension of a ceasefire between pro-Turkish fighters and Syrian Kurds at the flashpoint town of Manbij and was seeking a broader understanding with Ankara.
The announcement comes amid fears of an assault by Turkey on the Kurdish-held border town of Kobani, also known as Ain Al-Arab, after Turkish-supported Islamist rebels toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The Manbij truce, which had recently expired, “is extended through the end of the week, and we will, obviously, look to see that ceasefire extended as far as possible into the future,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
–IANS
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