US officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that ousted Assad, Blinken says

AQABA, Jordan (news agencies) — American officials have been in direct contact with the terrorist-designated rebel group that led the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday.

Blinken, speaking at a news conference in Jordan, was the first U.S. official to publicly confirm contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which led a coalition of armed opposition groups that drove Assad from power and into asylum in Russia last weekend.

Along with counterparts from eight Arab nations and Turkey and senior officials from the European Union and United Nations, Blinken signed off on a set of principles meant to guide Syria’s transition to a peaceful, nonsectarian and inclusive country.

Blinken would not discuss details of the direct contacts with HTS but said it was important for the U.S. to convey messages to the group about its conduct and how it intends to govern in a transition period.

“Yes, we have been in contact with HTS and with other parties,” Blinken said in the port city of Aqaba. He added that “our message to the Syrian people is this: We want them to succeed and we’re prepared to help them do so.”

HTS, once an affiliate of al-Qaida, has been designed as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department since 2018. That designation carries severe sanctions, including a ban on the provision of any “material support” to the group or its members.

The sanctions do not, however, legally bar U.S. officials from communicating with designated groups.

In an interview Saturday on Syrian television, the group’s leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, did not address any direct contact with the United States, but said the new authorities in Damascus are in touch with Western embassies.

He also said that “we don’t intend to enter any conflict because there is general exhaustion in Syria.”

HTS has worked to establish security and start a political transition after seizing Damascus and has tried to reassure a public both stunned by Assad’s fall and concerned about extremist jihadis among the rebels. Insurgent leaders say the group has broken with its extremist past.