A delegation of American diplomats arrived in Syria to meet with representatives of several Syrian factions, including a rebel group designated as terrorists — who overthrew the country’s longtime dictator, Bashar al-Assad.
The trip to Damascus, the first of its kind in more than a decade, will involve encounters with “members of civil society, activists, members of different communities, and other Syrian voices about their vision for the future of their country and how the United States can help support them,” the State Department said in a statement early Friday.
The visit will also include at least one meeting with representatives of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS, the Islamist group that with astonishing speed seized the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Homs before taking Damascus this month. Assad, whose family had ruled for more than half a century, fled to Moscow.
While HTS has publicly separated itself from al-Qaeda, it remains designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and other countries.
The U.S. diplomats plan to “discuss transition principles endorsed by the United States and regional partners,” the State Department said in the statement. Their agenda also includes trying “to uncover information about the fate of Austin Tice, Majd Kamalmaz, and other American citizens who disappeared under the Assad regime.”