The first US diplomats to visit Syria since the fall of President Bashar Assad At the beginning of the month they were already in Damascus to hold talks with the country’s new leaders and seek information about the whereabouts of the Missing American journalist Austin Tice.
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf; Former special envoy for Syria, Daniel Rubinstein, and the Joe Biden administration’s top envoy for hostage negotiations, Roger Carstens, traveled to the country for talks with interim leaders, the State Department said early Friday.
This is also the first group of US diplomats to formally visit Syria in more than a decade since Washington closed its embassy in Damascus in 2012.
“They will engage directly with the Syrian people, including members of civil society, activists, members of different communities, and other Syrian voices about their vision for the future of their country and how the United States can help support them,” the State Department said. .
One of the priorities on their agenda is to gather information about Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012. In addition, they will promote the principles of inclusion, protection of minorities and rejection of terrorism and chemical weapons that the White House says will be critical for any American support for a new government.
The United States has redoubled its efforts to find Tice and bring him home, noting that officials have communicated with the rebels who overthrew the Assad government about the reporter. Carstens had previously traveled to Lebanon to gather information.
Tice, whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and elsewhere, disappeared at a checkpoint in a disputed area west of Damascus as the Syrian civil war escalated.
In a video released weeks after his disappearance, he appeared blindfolded and held by armed men saying, “Oh, Jesus.” Nothing has been heard from him since. Assad’s government publicly denied it was holding him.
The rebel group that led the assault on Damascus that forced Assad to flee — Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS — is considered a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and other actors. Although that designation carries a number of sanctions, it does not prohibit US officials from speaking with its members or leaders.
The State Department said Rubinstein, Leaf and Carstens will meet with HTS officials but did not indicate whether the group’s leader, Ahmad al-Sharaawho was once linked to Al Qaeda, will participate in the meetings.
U.S. officials say al-Sharaa’s public statements on protecting minority and women’s rights are welcome, but are skeptical of his long-term compliance.
The United States has no formal diplomatic presence in Syria since 2012, when it suspended operations of its embassy in Damascus during the civil war, although there are American soldiers in small parts of Syria to assist in the fight against the Islamic State extremist group.
The Pentagon revealed Thursday that the United States had doubled the number of troops in Syria to fight IS before Assad’s fall. In addition, it has significantly intensified airstrikes against radical militia targets amid concerns that a power vacuum would allow the group to rebuild.
The diplomats’ visit to Damascus will not result in the immediate reopening of the embassy, which is under the protection of the Czech government, according to US officials, who said decisions on diplomatic recognition will be made when the new Syrian authorities clarify their intentions.
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