NEW YORK: The United States has removed a $10 million bounty on Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), after the first face-to-face meeting between American diplomats and the new Syrian leader in Damascus since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, according to media reports.
Barbara Leaf, the state department’s senior diplomat for the Middle East, said al-Sharaa had given assurances in the meeting in Damascus that Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groups would not be allowed to operate in Syrian territory.
Al-Sharaa, who was previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, was designated as a terrorist by the US in 2017 over his involvement with Al-Qaeda.
The American diplomat said they received, in her words, positive messages, during the discussions in Damascus.
During a press conference, Ms. Leaf told al-Sharaa of the “critical need to ensure terrorist groups cannot pose a threat inside of Syria or externally, including to the US and our partners in the region.”
“Based on our discussion, I told him we would not be pursuing the Rewards for Justice reward offer,” she said.
Ms. Leaf called al-Sharaa a “pragmatic” leader, saying that their meeting was “quite good, very productive, detailed.”
“We welcomed positive messages’ from al-Sharaa since his Islamist HTS rebels toppled Bashar al-Assad, she said. “We will be looking for progress on these principles and actions, not just words.”
The US closed its embassy in Damascus in February 2012, with the Czech Republic representing US interests in the country.
In a statement issued last week, the US said it would be prepared to recognize Syria’s new government if certain conditions were met.
On Monday, al-Sharaa met with the UN envoy for Syria, Geir Pederson, and a day later with a German delegation. French diplomats returned to their embassy in Damascus, raising the tricolor flag for the first time since 2012.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has disclosed it secretly doubled the number of US troops in northeast Syria from 900 to 2,000 soldiers before militants began their swift takeover of the country.
The figures were revealed on Thursday due to “sensitivity from a diplomatic and operational security standpoint”, Pentagon Press Secretary Patrick Ryder explained during a briefing.
