ReutersThe US has “direct contact” with the HTS rebels who are currently controlling Syria after being overthrown Assad regimeSecretary of State Antony Blinken said.
This is the first admission that the US has direct contact with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the US still considers a terrorist organization.
Blinken spoke in Jordan after talks with representatives of several Arab, Turkish and European countries to discuss Syria’s future.
Officials agreed to support a peaceful transition in the country, with Jordan’s foreign minister saying regional powers did not want to see the country “descend into chaos”.
A joint communiqué called for an inclusive Syrian government that respects the rights of minorities and does not provide a basis for “terrorist groups”.
The discussion both inside and outside Syria following the tumultuous events of recent weeks is of vital importance in establishing a new government that represents all Syrians.
At a meeting in Jordan, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein expressed concerns about Syria’s future that are shared across the Middle East and beyond.
He said countries in the region do not want to see another Libya – a reference to the chaos that followed the overthrow of Colonel Gaddafi.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Syria’s existing institutions must be preserved and reformed.
“Never allow terrorists to take advantage of the transition period. And we must coordinate our efforts and learn from past mistakes,” Fidan said according to Reuters news agency.
The most powerful rebel group, HTS, has indicated that it seeks an inclusive government. However, the group’s violent jihadist past has left some doubting whether it can deliver on such promises.
Blinken said that Washington has been in direct contact with HTS – especially about the fate of long-missing American journalist Austin Tice.
“We have been in contact with HTS and other parties,” Blinken told reporters in Jordan.
Missing from the talks in Jordan was any representation from Syria. The foreign ministers of eight Arab countries attending the meeting said they wanted to ensure that Syria remained united and not divided along sectarian lines.
Also absent were the two countries that financially supported Assad so that he could stay in power for a long time – Iran and Russia.
The shadow of all the outside powers that have fought in Syria for so long weighs heavily on the country’s future.
Syria’s emerging political entities will need cohesion not only domestically but also externally, if there is to be any real hope for the Syrian people to build on the passionate taste of freedom they have enjoyed. experienced in the past week.
ReutersSyrian rebels ended Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule, with opposition forces seizing the capital and forcing the president to flee to Russia on December 8.
The ouster comes after a 13-year civil war that began after Assad crushed pro-democracy protests. The war has killed more than half a million people, displaced millions more and drawn in international powers and their proxies.
HTS rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who previously used the name Abu Mohammed al-Jolaniappointed Mohammed al-Bashir as Interim Prime Minister of Syriaand the world is now watching how Syria’s political landscape shapes up after the end of the Assad family’s half-century rule.
HTS was established under a different name, Jabhat al-Nusrain 2011 as a direct affiliate of al-Qaeda. This is considered one of the most effective and dangerous groups against President Assad.
The group has been listed as a terrorist group by the United Nations, the US, Türkiye and other countries – and remains so.
But al-Sharaa has publicly broken ties with al-Qaeda and HTS’s recent message has been one of tolerance and rejection of violence or revenge.
