Dec 21 (Al Jazeera) – A senior diplomat has announced that the United States is dropping a $10m reward for the arrest of Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, after an uprising that toppled President Bashar al-Assad.
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf made the announcement on Friday after she and other US officials visited the Syrian capital, Damascus, to hold talks with the new Syrian administration.
It was the first visit by US diplomats to Syria since al-Assad was removed from power earlier this month in a lightning offensive, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group.
The US, however, had designated HTS a “terrorist” organisation in 2018. Al-Sharaa — also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani — is the group’s leader and was once aligned with al-Qaeda.
Leaf said the US decided to drop the reward for al-Sharaa after receiving “positive messages” during Friday’s discussions, including a promise to ensure that “terrorist” groups cannot pose a threat.
“Based on our discussion, I told him we would not be pursuing the Rewards for Justice reward offer that has been in effect for some years,” Leaf told reporters.
“I also communicated the importance of inclusion and broad consultation during this time of transition,” she said.
“We fully support a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process that results in an inclusive and representative government which respects the rights of all Syrians, including women, and Syria’s diverse ethnic and religious communities.”
Leaf’s trip to Syria — alongside Daniel Rubinstein, a former special envoy for Syria, and the US government’s chief envoy for hostage affairs, Roger Carstens — came as Western countries have been mulling whether to lift “terrorist” designations for HTS.
While the designation comes with a series of sanctions, it does not prohibit US officials from speaking to the group’s members or leaders.
Reporting from Washington, DC, on Friday afternoon, Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan said the US government’s view is that dropping the reward for al-Sharaa’s arrest will allow it to better promote “what the US and other regional partners want to see, which is a productive, safe and secure Syria”.
Jordan added that the move is “not a quid pro quo, per se” — but Washington does want to find out what happened to several Americans who went missing in Syria during the country’s civil war.
That includes journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared near Damascus in 2012.
“And so [the US diplomats] wanted to reaffirm those discussions, and HTS has said that it would do all that it could to try to find out where Austin Tice is, so that he can be returned to his family here in the United States,” Jordan said.
“Again, not a quid pro quo, but a chance for the Americans and the Syrians to really talk about how they can work together in the weeks and months ahead.”
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the US admitted it had about 2,000 troops in Syria, more than double the previous estimate.
The US started sending troops to the country in 2014 with the stated objective of defeating ISIL (ISIS), but US forces remained in Syria after the group’s territorial defeat in 2017.
On Friday, the US military said it carried out an air strike that killed ISIL leader Abu Yusif, also known as Mahmud, in the eastern Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor.
The attack took place in an area previously controlled by Syrian government and Russian forces, the Middle East-based Central Command of the US military (CENTCOM) said.
“As stated before, the United States- working with allies and partners in the region – will not allow ISIS to take advantage of the current situation in Syria and reconstitute,” CENTCOM commander Erik Kurilla said in a statement.
“ISIS has the intent to break out of detention the over 8,000 ISIS operatives currently being held in facilities in Syria. We will aggressively target these leaders and operatives, including those trying to conduct operations external to Syria.”
On Thursday, the Pentagon suggested that the US is not planning to withdraw its forces from Syria in the near future, saying that ISIL remains a threat in the country.
