Syria wants to contribute to “regional peace”, the country’s new officials said late Friday after a meeting between leader Ahmed al-Sharaa and the US diplomatic delegation.
“The Syrian side indicated that the Syrian people stand at equal distance from all countries and parties in the region and that Syria rejects any polarization,” the statement said.
It said the new authorities “want to reaffirm Syria’s role in promoting regional peace and building a privileged strategic partnership with the countries of the region”.
A Syrian official earlier told AFP that the meeting between al-Sharaa – formerly known by his nom de plume Abu Mohammed al-Jolani – and the US delegation led by Barbara Leaf, the Middle East chief at the State Department Was. “Positive”.
Al-Sharaa, the leader of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that seized power in Damascus, was previously the target of US sanctions.
But after their first formal contact in Damascus on Friday, Washington announced it had dropped the reward for his arrest.
“Based on our discussion, I told them we are dropping the reward offer,” Leaf told reporters.
He said he told the new Syrian leader “there is an urgent need to ensure that terrorist groups cannot pose a threat inside or outside Syria, including to the United States and our allies in the region”.
He said he was “committed to doing that” and that he found it “practical.”
HTS, which leads the victorious coalition of armed groups in Damascus, has claimed to break with jihadism and sought to reassure people about its ability to revive the country after nearly 14 years of civil war. Is.
France, Germany, Britain and the United Nations have also sent envoys to Damascus in recent days to establish contacts with the new authorities.
The West is wary of the country’s fragmentation and the risk of a resurgence of the jihadist group Islamic State, which has never been completely eradicated there.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
