US officials One group is in the Syrian capital for the first time in more than 10 years to search for information on American citizens who disappeared under the Assad regime. above all else
The team visiting Damascus included a special U.S. envoy. Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (NEA) Barbara Leaf and NEA Senior Advisor Daniel Rubinstein, a State Department spokesperson, told Fox News Digital.
Rubinstein, who previously served as the U.S. special envoy for Syria, has decades of foreign affairs experience. It will lead the diplomatic engagement, a spokesman confirmed.
His mission is to engage with the Syrian people and major political parties within the country. He also sought to coordinate with partners to advance the principles set out at a meeting between world leaders in the Jordanian city of Aqaba earlier this month.
BIDEN SAYS WE KNOW ‘With confidence’ that American journalist AUSTIN TICE is being controlled by SYRIA
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (NEA) Barbara Leaf (left), U.S. Special Representative Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens (center) and NEA Senior Advisor Daniel Rubinstein (right) are in Damascus, Syria, on a diplomatic engagement with a state, a ministry spokesperson told Fox News Digital. (Alex Wong/Getty Images; Mehmet Serkan afak/Anadolu via Getty Images; Gali Tibbon-Pool/Getty Images)
The trio will meet with Syrians to reveal their vision for their country. After the fall of the Assad regime earlier this month. amidst the ongoing civil war They will also ask whether the United States How can you help support them in the future they want?
“They will engage directly with the Syrian people. including members of civil society activist Members of various communities and other sounds of the Syrian people,” the spokesman said in part.
The three officials will meet with representatives of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS– US-appointed terrorist group to “discuss transformative principles” at the US and regional allies in Aqaba. Jordan has certified, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is the leader of the US-designated terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). which took control of Syria after the fall of the Assad regime. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images)
Islamist groups operating in Syria have a more mixed history than governing the province, ruling with an ‘iron fist’.
Earlier, Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that world leaders had discussed “The need for a comprehensive Syrian-led political transition” during the Aqaba Conference on Syria in Jordan on December 1, 14.
“The United States supports a future government in Syria that is chosen by and represents all Syrians,” Blinken said on X .
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on December 1, 13th Turkey, to discuss creating greater stability in Syria. Among competing rebel factions (Getty Images)
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Another goal of the visit is to determine what happened to American citizens who disappeared under the Assad regime. They include former freelance journalist turned Marine Austin Tice, who was kidnapped while reporting in Syria in 2012.
Carstens is leading the search for Tice and recently shared that Rewards for Justice is offering up to $10 million for information on his whereabouts.
The State Department’s Justice Rewards Program is offering $10 million for information related to Austin Tice. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs Award for Justice)
“In light of recent events in Syria, the FBI is soliciting information that may lead to the safe location, recovery, and return of Austin Bennett Tice, who was detained in Damascus in August 2012,” the FBI said in a statement. declaration
