U.S. Has Been In Direct Contact With Syrian Rebel Group That Ousted Assad, Blinken Says

AQABA, Jordan (AP) — 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 the US and others.

Blinken is the primary U.S. official to publicly affirm 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 control in a transition interval.

“Sure, we have now been in touch with HTS and with different events,” Blinken stated. He added that “our message to the Syrian individuals is that this: We wish them to succeed and we’re ready to assist them achieve this.”

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 help” 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 generally known 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 by means of on them in the long term.

On Friday, the rebels and Syria’s unarmed opposition labored to securely flip over to U.S. officers an American man who had been imprisoned by Assad.