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The US announced on Friday that Washington was removing the $10 million bounty offered for\u00a0Hayat Tahrir Al Sham\u00a0leader Ahmad Al Shara after a milestone meeting in Damascus.<\/p>\n
Barbara Leaf, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, emphasized during discussions with the de facto Syrian leader, \u201cthe 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\u201d. She said that Al Shara had \u201ccommitted to this\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBased on our discussion, I told him we would not be pursuing the Rewards for Justice, the reward offer that has been in effect for some years,\u201d Leaf said during a briefing.<\/p>\n
The announcement represents a diplomatic victory for Al Shara, who has dropped his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed Al Julani, as he seeks to earn international recognition and moderate his reputation after leading HTS and other rebel groups in a blitz operation this month that toppled president Bashar Al Assad’s government.<\/p>\n
The US has designated\u00a0HTS\u00a0as a terrorist group and Leaf emphasized that the lifting of Al Shara’s bounty was \u201ca policy decision, aligned with the fact that we are beginning a discussion with HTS\u201d.<\/p>\n
She did not discuss any possible steps on the terror designation of HTS but, on the issue of sanctions relief, said more broadly that Washington would \u201ccontinue to refine our approach as we see the needs, but obviously it’ll be a multilateral effort\u201d.<\/p>\n
The US official, leading Washington’s first delegation visit to Damascus in more than 12 years, met Syrian civil society groups and emphasized that she had heard \u201ca very common theme of one Syria for one people and unity above all\u201d.<\/p>\n
She hinted that should the transitional government in Damascus move in the direction of \u201cinternal pressure\u201d to shed sectarianism, such measures would be \u201cconsistent\u201d with the requirements necessary for Washington to lift sanctions, including those outlined in the Caesar Act.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
(Source: The Nation)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n