The United States has made "direct contact" with the Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a press conference in Aqaba, Jordan on Saturday.
"We've been in contact with HTS and with other parties," Blinken said, referring to the rebels who drove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power in a lightning offensive earlier this month.
Blinken referred to those discussions as "direct contact." He did not elaborate on details of the talks, but did acknowledge that the U.S. has "impressed upon everyone we've been in contact with" the importance of helping to find the missing American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared near Damascus 12 years ago.
Blinken's comments mark the first time a U.S. official has acknowledged contact with HTS. The Islamist group was once affiliated with al-Qaida, and while it has sought to strike a more moderate tone in recent years, the U.S. still regards it as a terrorist organization — a designation given to the group in May 2018.
Blinken, who was in Jordan meeting with leaders about Syria's future, said the U.S. and its partners "agreed on a set of shared principles to guide our support for Syria and its people going forward."
The U.S. and its partners also agreed to several factors, Blinken said, including that the transition process in the Syrian government should be "Syrian-led and Syrian-owned," citizens should have access to humanitarian aid and that the country "should not be used as a base for terrorist groups or others."
"We know that what happens inside of Syria can have powerful consequences well beyond its borders, from mass displacement to terrorism. And we know that we can't underestimate the challenges of this moment and in the weeks and months ahead," he said. "Our message to the Syrian people is this: We want them to succeed and we're prepared to help them do so."
During an interview last week, the HTS leader, Ahmed al-Shara, formerly known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohmmad al-Jolani, sought to allay concerns about Syria's future under HTS leadership.
He said fears by other countries "are unnecessary" and was hopeful that Syria "will be rebuilt."
"People are exhausted from war. So the country isn't ready for another one and it's not going to get into another one," he told Sky News. "The source of our fears was from the Iranian militias, Hezbollah and the regime which committed the massacres we are seeing today. So their removal is the solution for Syria. The current situation won't allow for a return to panic."
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