US to remove $10mn bounty for Syria’s Islamist rebel leader

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The United States has said it will remove a $10 million reward for Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamist group that led the overthrow of Syria’s Assad government, in a sign that Washington is willing to engage with newcomers. leadership

In return, Jolani, who now goes by his birth name, Ahmed al-Shara, agreed that terrorist groups “cannot be allowed to pose a threat to the United States and our partners in the region, inside Syria or externally,” said Barbara Leaf, the State Department’s top Middle East officials said on Friday.

Leaf met with Jolani in Damascus earlier in the day and told reporters that lifting the bounty would allow U.S. officials to engage with the rebel leader without turning him over to U.S. law enforcement.

Leaf said his meeting with Zolani was “pretty good, very productive, detailed.”

“He came across as a realist,” he said, adding that he made “moderate” statements about equal protection for women and minorities. “We will judge by actions and not just words,” he added.

HTS has been designated a terrorist organization by the US, EU, UN and others, meaning Washington cannot provide material support to the group, but it can communicate with its members. Zolani said that the departure of Assad means that sanctions should be lifted from the state.

US officials have said they would consider lifting both the sanctions and the terrorist designation, which have been in place since 2018, if HTS proves its commitment to maintaining “inclusive” governance and stability.

They say Zolani and an eventual transitional government will face internal pressure to take the necessary steps to lift the sanctions.

“I think there will be quite a bit of internal pressure on both interim authorities and then whatever interim government comes in a few months from now, to move in a direction that actually meets our needs. The ban will remain in view,” Leaf said.

He added that Zolani insisted that he wanted to start an economic recovery for Syria.

The US delegation in Damascus also included US special envoy for hostages Roger Carstens and senior diplomat Daniel Rubenstein, who will be involved in Syria.

Diplomats met and visited a site in the capital as part of efforts to find American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Damascus in 2012.

Carstens said it was unclear if Tice was still alive. “The information we have right now doesn’t confirm one way or the other,” he said.

U.S. officials say they plan to engage with interim officials and other Syrians on further trips to Syria if conditions permit.