US diplomats prepare to meet Syrian rebel leader in Damascus

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Joe Biden is sending top diplomats to Damascus to meet Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of the Islamist rebels who toppled Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad but are designated a terrorist group by the US.

Barbara Leaf, the state department’s senior Middle East official, will lead the delegation in the coming days, according to people familiar with the matter.

The meeting would be the first formal in-person contact between the US and leaders of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which led the offensive that ousted Assad two weeks ago after a lightning offensive against the regime. 

This planned US visit comes as Jolani, who now uses his birth name Ahmed al-Sharea, urges western countries to lift sanctions on Syria, and Washington tries to prevent terror groups including Isis taking advantage of the power vacuum left following Assad’s fall.

US officials say they would consider lifting HTS’s terrorist designation, which has been in place since 2018, and sanctions on the Syrian state if the group proves its commitment to “inclusive” rule and maintaining stability.

“If you don’t want that isolation, then there are certain things that you have to do in moving the country forward and make sure you’re moving it forward in an inclusive way . . . to deal with some of the security challenges, whether it’s chemical weapons, whether it’s groups like Isis,” Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, said at an event in New York on Wednesday. 

The US trip would follow visits to Damascus by officials from France, Germany and the UK earlier this week. 

Blinken told Bloomberg on Thursday that he was considering sending a delegation to Syria in the coming days. “It’s important to have direct communication,” he said, without disclosing who he would send or what he decided.

US officials have already been in touch with HTS to discuss Syria’s political transition and to stress the importance of finding Austin Tice, an American journalist abducted in Damascus in 2012.

The US terrorist designation on HTS and its leader means Washington cannot offer the group material support but it can communicate with them. Jolani has said that Assad’s departure means sanctions on the state should be lifted. 

American officials have been encouraged by Jolani’s conciliatory statements and pledges to preside over a united Syria. But they say the challenge now will be seeing whether his actions coincide with his words.

The EU is planning to reopen its legation in Damascus. Turkey and Qatar are reopening embassies they shut after Assad brutally put down a 2011 popular uprising that morphed into a civil war. Ankara, which has links to HTS, has been among the main backers of Syrian rebel factions. 

The US is concerned that Isis could exploit a power vacuum in Syria to regroup and launch new attacks. Around 900 US troops remain in the north-east of the country to counter the terror group. The US has intensified its military operations against Isis since Assad’s regime collapsed earlier this month.