Talks in Damascus

USA withdraws bounty on head of HTS militia

Ahmed al-Sharaa, head of the HTS militia

(Bild: AFP/SANA)

The US government is withdrawing the bounty on the head of the Islamist militia HTS in Syria. There were "positive messages" in the talks with the new rulers, said US Middle East Representative Barbara Leaf on Friday.

"Based on our conversation, I told him that we are removing the reward (...) that had been suspended for a number of years," Leaf said. She had traveled to the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday with other US diplomats to meet the leader of the Islamist militia Hayat Tahrir al-Shams (HTS), Mohammed al-Golani. He now goes by his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa. The White House and other Western governments continue to officially list HTS as a terrorist organization.

The US State Department announced before the trip to Syria that meetings with activists, members of minorities and representatives of civil society were also planned. Fair treatment of ethnic and religious minorities is central to the new transitional government. Just a few days after the fall of long-time ruler Assad, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that his government was in direct contact with the HTS militia. The latter had overthrown Assad together with allied groups on December 8.

A German delegation with Ahmed al-Sharaa

(Bild: AFP/SANA)

Efforts by other countries
The governments of Germany, France, the UK and the EU are also currently trying to re-establish contact with the new rulers in Syria. Among other things, the aim is to stabilize the situation and gain clarity on the planned course. An EU delegation is due to travel to Damascus on Monday.

The HTS militia has so far promised to protect the rights of all Syrians, among other things. It originally emerged from the Al-Nusra Front, the Syrian offshoot of Al-Qaeda. However, according to its own statements, it has had no links to the terrorist network since 2016 and now presents itself as moderate.