US diplomats in Syria to satisfy with new HTS authorities

American diplomats are in Damascus, the Syrian capital, the place they plan to satisfy with representatives of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group now in management however which Washington nonetheless designates as a terrorist group.

This go to follows these made in latest days by delegations from the UN and different nations, together with the UK, France and Germany.

That is the primary official U.S. diplomatic presence in Damascus in additional than a decade.

It’s a additional signal of the dramatic modifications underway in Syria for the reason that fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime greater than every week in the past, and of the pace of efforts deployed by the US and Europe, additionally counting on Arab nations, to attempt to affect its rising governance.

The delegation of senior officers contains Deputy Secretary of State Barbara Leaf, Roger Carstens, US President Joe Biden’s hostage envoy, and Daniel Rubinstein, senior adviser on the Bureau of Close to Jap Affairs.

“They may interact immediately with the Syrian folks, together with members of civil society, activists, members of various communities and different Syrian voices, on their imaginative and prescient for the way forward for their nation and the way which the US can help,” a state assertion mentioned. »mentioned the division spokesperson in an announcement.

They plan to satisfy with representatives of HTS, to point out that they’re able to cope with the group that the US continues to label a terrorist group, whereas rising strain for it to transition to an inclusive authorities and non-sectarian.

Washington successfully units a set of circumstances earlier than contemplating delisting the group – an important step that might ease the trail to sanctions aid that Damascus desperately wants.

Authorities are in search of extra data to seek out American journalist Austin Tice, kidnapped in Damascus in 2012.