Syria: American diplomats in Damascus to meet new leaders

American diplomats arrived in Syria to meet with the new Syrian authorities, dominated by radical Islamists, with the aim of “push them to promote unity» after 13 years of civil war, the State Department said.

This is the first formal diplomatic mission dispatched by Washington to Damascus since the start of the civil war which broke out in 2011 and experienced a spectacular rebound with the fall on December 8 of Bashar al-Assad, who fled to Russia .

American envoys will meet representatives of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an organization still classified as terrorist by Washington, and civil society to discuss “about their vision for the future of their country and how the United States can support them“, said a State Department spokesperson.

The delegation includes Barbara Leaf, the head of the Middle East within American diplomacy, and Daniel Rubinstein, a diplomat specializing in the Arab world who is now responsible for contacts with Syria, said the same source. Also present: Roger Carstens, responsible for collecting clues about Americans missing in Syria such as journalist Austin Tice, kidnapped in August 2012.

The United States thus takes over from France, whose flag now flies over the embassy closed in 2012, Germany, the United Kingdom and the UN which sent emissaries to establish contacts with the authorities transition, whose first steps in power are observed with caution.

Although wary, Westerners are seeking to establish ties with the new power, aware of the risk of fragmentation of the country and the resurgence of the jihadist group Daesh, which has never been completely eradicated from Syria.