US officials on first diplomatic trip to Syria since al-Assad’s removal 

The first United States diplomats to visit Syria since President Bashar Assad was removed earlier this month are holding talks in Damascus with the country’s new leaders, including the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that Washington had designated as a terrorist organisation.

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, former Special Envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein and the government’s chief envoy for hostage affairs, Roger Carstens, were in Damascus on Friday, the State Department said.

“They will be engaging directly with the Syrian people, including members of civil society, activists, members of different communities, and other Syrian voices about their vision for the future of their country and how the United States can help support them,” it said in a statement.

At the top of their agenda will be the interim government’s “vision for the future of their country and how the United States can help support them”.

Western states have been mulling over whether to lift HTS’s terrorist designation, which comes with a group of sanctions. It, however, does not prohibit US officials from speaking to its members or leaders.

The State Department said Rubinstein, Leaf and Carstens were scheduled to meet with HTS officials but did not say whether these would include the group’s leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaeda.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the US admitted it had about 900 troops in Syria – approximately 2,000 soldiers – or double the previous estimate. The US started sending troops to Syria in 2014 with the stated objective of defeating ISIL (ISIS), but US forces remained in the country after the group’s territorial defeat in 2017.

Washington would also be seeking information about American journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012. Carstens travelled previously to Lebanon to seek information.

On Friday, the UN Human Rights Office said it would also send a small team of human rights officers to Syria next week.