The United States has removed the long-standing $10 million bounty on Syria’s de-facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, following a high-level meeting between US officials and the former jihadist. The decision is aligned with efforts to combat terrorism and work on critical issues such as combating ISIS.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf described the meeting as “policy decision” that shows commitment from al-Sharaa to addressing these issues. Al-Sharaa, leader of US-designated terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), met with Leaf and two other US officials in Damascus.
The meeting aimed to engage Syria’s interim government and prevent the resurgence of ISIS in the wake of the Syrian regime’s collapse. The international community has also endorsed a set of principles guiding the transition to a new Syrian government, which would mark a departure from Assad’s brutal rule.
Leaf said al-Sharaa “came across as pragmatic” and described the meeting as productive. US officials have been in direct contact with HTS on matters such as finding American journalist Austin Tice, who has been detained for over a decade. The US hopes to find more information about Tice’s fate and that of other Americans who disappeared.
The US is focusing its search for Tice on six facilities believed to have held him, but due to limited resources, the focus will be on these initial sites. Carstens said the FBI should be involved in the search process, and they plan to fine-tune evidence gathering at the initial sites before expanding the search to other potential locations.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/20/politics/us-delegation-meets-syrian-rebel-leader/index.html