WASHINGTON, Dec 20, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - US diplomats have arrived in Syria to
speak directly to the new Islamist-led rulers, hoping to encourage a
moderate, inclusive path and to find clues on missing Americans, the State
Department said Friday.

It is the first formal US diplomatic mission to Damascus since the early days
of the brutal civil war that broke out in 2011 and culminated in a surprise
lightning offensive that toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad this month.

The diplomats will meet representatives of victorious group Hayat Tahrir al-
Sham (HTS) -- which is designated a terrorist group by Washington -- as well
as activists, civil society and members of minority groups, the State
Department said.

The US officials will speak with Syrians about "their vision for the future
of their country and how the United States can help support them," a State
Department spokesperson said.

The delegation includes Barbara Leaf, who is the top State Department
official for the Middle East, and Daniel Rubinstein, a veteran US diplomat in
the Arab world who is being put in charge of engagement on Syria, the
spokesperson said.

Also present is Roger Carstens, the US point man on hostages, who has been
seeking clues on missing Americans including Austin Tice, a journalist who
was kidnapped in August 2012.

The trip comes a week after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United
States had been in direct contact with HTS as he toured Syria's neighbors.

At talks in the Jordanian resort of Aqaba, Western and Arab powers as well as
Turkey jointly called Saturday for an "inclusive, non-sectarian and
representative government" that respects the rights of all of Syria's diverse
communities.

- 'No guarantees' -

HTS has roots in Al-Qaeda, causing the United States to keep a distance
throughout the civil war even while Washington also sought to isolate the
more secular Assad, whose family's dictatorship ruthlessly suppressed dissent
for a half-century.

Since the fall of Assad, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has struck a
conciliatory tone, calling for Syrian unity, the protection of minorities and
the disbanding of rebel factions.

Blinken has said it is too early to assess Jolani's sincerity and that any
sanctions relief would depend on actions.

"There are no guarantees at all. We've seen too many times one dictator can
be replaced by another," Blinken told The Foreign Affairs Interview podcast
on Wednesday.

"So this is fraught, but we know almost certainly that absent our engagement,
absent our leadership, that's the way it will go," he said.

"We have a chance, and the Syrian people have a chance, if concerned
countries, including the United States, work to move this in a good
direction."

No decision on removing the HTS terrorism designation is likely in the month
until the return of president-elect Donald Trump, who has made clear that he
does not want a heavy US involvement in Syria.

Trump has described Assad's fall as an "unfriendly takeover" by Turkey, which
has supported HTS and bitterly opposes Washington's alliance with Syrian
Kurdish fighters, who have cooperated in Washington's paramount goal of
keeping down the ultra-violent Islamic State group.

World powers have moved quickly since Assad's fall to revive diplomacy in
Syria, whose war set off an exodus of migrants that rocked Western politics.

Jolani met Monday with the UN envoy for Syria, Geir Pederson, and a day later
with a German delegation.

French diplomats returned to their embassy in Damascus, raising the tricolor
flag for the first time since 2012.

The United States closed its own embassy in Damascus in February 2012 and has
made no immediate move to reopen it, with the Czech Republic representing US
interests in the country.