U.S. has made contact with Syrian rebel group HTS, Blinken says : NPR

America has made “direct contact” with the Syrian insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned throughout a press convention in Aqaba, Jordan on Saturday.

“We have been involved with HTS and with different events,” Blinken mentioned, referring to the rebels who drove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from energy in a lightning offensive earlier this month.

Blinken referred to these discussions as “direct contact.” He didn’t elaborate on particulars of the talks, however did acknowledge that the U.S. has “impressed upon everybody we have been involved with” the significance of serving to to seek out the lacking American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared close to Damascus 12 years in the past.

Blinken’s feedback mark the primary time a U.S. official has acknowledged contact with HTS. The Islamist group was as soon as affiliated with al-Qaida, and whereas it has sought to strike a extra reasonable tone in recent times, the U.S. nonetheless regards it as a terrorist group — a designation given to the group in Might 2018.

Blinken, who was in Jordan assembly with leaders about Syria’s future, mentioned the U.S. and its companions “agreed on a set of shared ideas to information our assist for Syria and its individuals going ahead.”

The U.S. and its companions additionally agreed to a number of elements, Blinken mentioned, together with that the transition course of within the Syrian authorities ought to be “Syrian-led and Syrian-owned,” residents ought to have entry to humanitarian help and that the nation “shouldn’t be used as a base for terrorist teams or others.”

“We all know that what occurs within Syria can have highly effective penalties properly past its borders, from mass displacement to terrorism. And we all know that we will not underestimate the challenges of this second and within the weeks and months forward,” he mentioned. “Our message to the Syrian individuals is that this: We wish them to succeed and we’re ready to assist them achieve this.”

Throughout an interview final week, the HTS chief, Ahmed al-Shara, previously recognized by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohmmad al-Jolani, sought to allay considerations about Syria’s future below HTS management.

He mentioned fears by different international locations “are pointless” and was hopeful that Syria “will likely be rebuilt.”

“Persons are exhausted from conflict. So the nation is not prepared for an additional one and it is not going to get into one other one,” he informed Sky Information. “The supply of our fears was from the Iranian militias, Hezbollah and the regime which dedicated the massacres we’re seeing right this moment. So their removing is the answer for Syria. The present state of affairs will not enable for a return to panic.”