US scraps $13.6 million bounty on Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa after meeting

DAMASCUS - The US lifted a US$10 million (S$13.6 million) bounty on Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa after an American delegation met him in Damascus on Dec 20, a move it said was needed for Washington to engage with the country’s interim government.

Ms Barbara Leaf, Washington’s top diplomat for the Middle East, told Sharaa that the US was dropping a reward for his arrest as she welcomed “positive messages” from their talks, including a promise to fight terrorism.

She made the comments after her meeting with Sharaa in Damascus – the first formal mission to Syria’s capital by US diplomats since the early days of Syria’s civil war.

The lightning offensive that toppled President Bashar al-Assad on Dec 8 was led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in Al-Qaeda’s Syria branch but has sought to moderate its image in recent years.

Ms Leaf’s meeting with HTS chief Sharaa came despite Washington’s

designation of his group as a terrorist organisation

.

“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,” Ms Leaf told reporters.

After their talks, “it’s a little incoherent, then, to have a bounty on the guy’s head”, she said, welcoming the messages from him.

“We will be looking for progress on these principles and actions, not just words,” she said.

“We fully support a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process that results in an inclusive and representative government that respects the rights of all Syrians, including women, and Syria’s diverse ethnic and religious communities.”

The US agreed on those principles with top Arab and European diplomats, as well as Turkey, during a meeting on Dec 14 in Aqaba, Jordan.

A Syrian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, earlier confirmed to AFP that the US delegation had met Sharaa.

“The meeting took place and it was positive. And the results will be positive, God willing,” the official said.

Ms Leaf said she told Sharaa of the “critical need to ensure terrorist groups cannot pose a threat inside of Syria or externally, including to the US and our partners in the region”.

“Ahmed al-Sharaa committed to this,” she said.

The US delegation also included Mr Roger Carstens, the US point man on hostages.

He said he worked on Dec 20 with the new Syrian leadership to search a location where American journalist Austin Tice could have been held, and that they will be working with the interim authorities to examine other locations. Mr Tice was kidnapped in Syria in August 2012.

US strikes ISIS

On a regional tour prior to the Aqaba talks, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had stressed the need to prevent a resurgence of ISIS extremists.

The US military said on Dec 20 its forces had killed an ISIS leader and another operative in Deir Ezzor province, part of escalated US military action against the group since Mr Assad’s overthrow.

The embassy said Ms Leaf also met Syria’s White Helmets rescuers, civil society leaders, activists and others “to hear directly from them about their vision for the future of their country and how the US can help support them”.

Below a photograph of Ms Leaf and others with a memorial wreath, the US embassy said she had also commemorated the tens of thousands of people murdered, tortured, or who had disappeared or were detained under Mr Assad. “The US commitment to hold accountable those responsible for these atrocities is unwavering,” the embassy said.

Turkish pressure

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who backed Mr Assad’s opponents, has stressed reconciliation and restoration of Syria’s territorial integrity and unity.

Turkey has been putting pressure on Kurdish-led forces in Syria, and Mr Erdogan said on Dec 20 that it was time to destroy “terrorist” groups operating in the country, specifically ISIS and Kurdish fighters.

“Daesh, the PKK and their affiliates – which threaten the survival of Syria – must be eradicated,” he told journalists, following a summit in Cairo, referring to ISIS and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, respectively.

The autonomous administration in north-eastern Syria is protected by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), mostly made up of the People’s Protection Units (YPG).

Turkey accuses the YPG of being a branch of the PKK, which both Washington and Ankara consider a terrorist group.

Kurdish leaders in Syria have welcomed Mr Assad’s ouster and raised the three-star independence-era rebel flag, but many in the region fear continued attacks by Turkey and allied fighters.

Ms Leaf said Washington was urging a ceasefire between Turkish-backed forces and the SDF around the Kurdish-held Syrian border town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab.

On a visit to Ankara on Dec 20, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned of the dangers of any escalation of the fighting, saying: “Security, especially for Kurds, is essential for a free and secure future for Syria.”

Iran and Russia had long helped to prop up Mr Assad, but on Dec 20 Ms Leaf said she expected Syria would completely end any role for Iran.

Ms Amy Pope, head of the UN migration agency, on Dec 20 urged “the caretaker government to continue to empower and enable women, because they are going to be absolutely critical to the rebuilding of the country”.

Ms Pope also called for the raft of international sanctions on Syria to be reassessed to help the country regain its footing.

Syria’s civil war killed more than 500,000 people and sparked an exodus of millions of refugees.

On Dec 20, almost two weeks after Mr Assad’s fall and flight to Moscow, Syrians continued to celebrate. Fireworks exploded over Umayyad Square in Damascus, where flag-waving crowds gathered. BLOOMBERG, AFP