AQABA, Jordan (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that American officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that spearheaded the overthrow of President Bashar Assad’s government but is designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and others.
Blinken is the first U.S. official to publicly confirm contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which led a coalition of armed opposition groups that ousted Assad from power last Sunday.
Speaking at a news conference in Aqaba, Jordan, Blinken would not discuss details of the contacts but said it was important for the U.S. to convey messages to the group about its conduct and how it intends to govern in a transition period.
“Yes, we have been in contact with HTS and with other parties,” Blinken said. He added that “our message to the Syrian people is this: We want them to succeed and we’re prepared to help them do so.”
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS via Getty Images
Turkish Foreign Minister @HakanFidan and I met to discuss the situation in Syria and the importance of a Syria-led and Syrian-owned transition. We also spoke about the need to protect the rights and freedoms of Syrians, including members of minorities, during this pivotal time. pic.twitter.com/rSjmn4gk3i
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) December 13, 2024“,”type”:”rich”,”meta”:{“author”:”Secretary Antony Blinken”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/SecBlinken”,”cache_age”:86400,”description”:”Turkish Foreign Minister @HakanFidan and I met to discuss the situation in Syria and the importance of a Syria-led and Syrian-owned transition. We also spoke about the need to protect the rights and freedoms of Syrians, including members of minorities, during this pivotal time. pic.twitter.com/rSjmn4gk3i— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) December 13, 2024nnn”,”options”:{“_hide_media”:{“label”:”Hide photos, videos, and cards”,”value”:false},”_maxwidth”:{“label”:”Adjust width”,”placeholder”:”220-550, in px”,”value”:””},”_theme”:{“value”:””,”values”:{“dark”:”Use dark theme”}}},”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”thumbnail_height”:1366,”thumbnail_url”:”https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ger-O-HWcAA-IDq.jpg:large”,”thumbnail_width”:2048,”title”:”Secretary Antony Blinken on Twitter / X”,”type”:”rich”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1867585251624812937″,”version”:”1.0″},”flags”:[],”enhancements”:{},”fullBleed”:false,”options”:{“theme”:”news”,”device”:”desktop”,”editionInfo”:{“id”:”us”,”name”:”U.S.”,”link”:”https://www.huffpost.com”,”locale”:”en_US”},”originalEdition”:”us”,”isMapi”:false,”isAmp”:false,”isVideoEntry”:false,”isEntry”:true,”isMt”:false,”entryId”:”675da854e4b0e1241a41730c”,”entryPermalink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/entry/united-states-direct-contact-syrian-rebel-group-ousted-assad-blinken_n_675da854e4b0e1241a41730c”,”entryTagsList”:”politics,syria,world-news,bashar-assad,antony-blinken,@ap_wire_import,@nosyndication,@us_huffpost_now,@wire”,”sectionSlug”:”world-news”,”deptSlug”:”politics-news”,”sectionRedirectUrl”:null,”subcategories”:””,”isWide”:false,”headerOverride”:null,”noVideoAds”:false,”disableFloat”:false,”isNative”:false,”commercialVideo”:{“provider”:”custom”,”site_and_category”:”us.world-news”,”package”:null},”isHighline”:false,”vidibleConfigValues”:{“cid”:”60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf”,”overrides”:{“front_page_top_videos”:{“desktop”:”60b64354b171b7444beaff4d”,”mobileweb”:”60b64354b171b7444beaff4d”},”top_media”:{“desktop”:”60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147″,”mobile”:”60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee”,”iphone”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”ipad”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”androidphone”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”,”androidtablet”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”},”anthology”:{“desktop”:”60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba”,”mobile”:”60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66″,”iphone”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”ipad”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”androidphone”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”,”androidtablet”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”},”content”:{“desktop”:”60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba”,”mobile”:”60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66″,”iphone”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”ipad”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”androidphone”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”,”androidtablet”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”}},”playerUpdates”:{“5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6″:”60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443″,”56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8″:”60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81″,”5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f”:”60b8e355cdd90620331ba185″,”58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895″:”60b64316b171b7444beafdb2″,”58b74698f78ced31417819ae”:”60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52″,”58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1″:”60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5″,”58cff690d85a100b9992bc39″:”60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba”,”58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180″:”60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66″,”58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7″:”60b643c82e76be41f112735c”,”592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”,”5b35266b158f855373e28256″:”60b64354b171b7444beaff4d”,”5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a”:”60b64440b171b7444beb040b”,”5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9″:”60b646102e76be41f1127ffc”,”5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f”:”60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147″,”5c477987a6b48b35f164773d”:”60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee”,”5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371″:”60b8e747cdd90620331bb861″,”5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2″:”60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b”,”5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6″:”60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9″,”58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321″:”60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c”,”58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3″:”60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0″,”58cff8eccebcea42931e0436″:”60d0e005b627221e9d819d44″,”592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b”:”60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf”,”58cff72fd85a100b9992c112″:”60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da”,”56b4d34fe4b022697697c400″:”60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443″,”60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d”:”60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81″}},”connatixConfigValues”:{“defaultPlayer”:”ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b”,”clickToPlayPlayer”:”d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0″,”videoPagePlayer”:”f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145″,”verticalPlayer”:”e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065″,”stickyPlayerControl”:”52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da”,”stickyPlayerON”:”8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22″},”topConnatixThumnbailSrc”:”https://img.connatix.com/d794f11e-9c03-4403-9e6f-4461c6a97d66/1_th.jpg?crop=629:354,smart&width=629&height=354&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop”,”customAmpComponents”:[],”ampAssetsUrl”:”https://amp.assets.huffpost.com”,”videoTraits”:null,”positionInUnitCounts”:{“buzz_head”:{“count”:0},”buzz_body”:{“count”:0},”buzz_bottom”:{“count”:0}},”positionInSubUnitCounts”:{“article_body”:{“count”:0},”blog_summary”:{“count”:0},”before_you_go_content”:{“count”:0}},”connatixCountsHelper”:{“count”:1},”buzzfeedTracking”:{“context_page_id”:”675da854e4b0e1241a41730c”,”context_page_type”:”buzz”,”destination”:”huffpost”,”mode”:”desktop”,”page_edition”:”en-us”},”tags”:[{“name”:”Politics”,”slug”:”politics”,”links”:{“relativeLink”:”topic/politics”,”permalink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/politics”,”mobileWebLink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/politics”},”relegenceSubjectId”:982065,”department”:{“name”:”Latest News”,”slug”:”politics-news”},”section”:{“title”:”Politics”,”slug”:”politics”},”topic”:{“title”:”Politics News”,”slug”:”politics-news”,”overridesSectionLabel”:false},”url”:”https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/politics-news”},{“name”:”Syria”,”slug”:”syria”,”links”:{“relativeLink”:”topic/syria”,”permalink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/syria”,”mobileWebLink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/syria”},”department”:{“name”:”Latest News”,”slug”:”politics-news”},”section”:{“title”:”World News”,”slug”:”world-news”},”topic”:{“title”:”Syria”,”slug”:”syria”,”overridesSectionLabel”:false},”url”:”https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/syria”},{“name”:”world news”,”slug”:”world-news”,”links”:{“relativeLink”:”topic/world-news”,”permalink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/world-news”,”mobileWebLink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/world-news”},”department”:{“name”:”Latest News”,”slug”:”politics-news”},”section”:{“title”:”World News”,”slug”:”world-news”},”topic”:{“title”:”International News”,”slug”:”international-news”,”overridesSectionLabel”:false},”url”:”https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/international-news”},{“name”:”Bashar Assad”,”slug”:”bashar-assad”,”links”:{“relativeLink”:”topic/bashar-assad”,”permalink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/bashar-assad”,”mobileWebLink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/bashar-assad”},”department”:{“name”:”Latest News”,”slug”:”politics-news”},”section”:{“title”:”World News”,”slug”:”world-news”},”topic”:{“title”:”Bashar al-Assad”,”slug”:”bashar-al-assad”,”overridesSectionLabel”:false},”url”:”https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/bashar-al-assad”},{“name”:”antony blinken”,”slug”:”antony-blinken”,”links”:{“relativeLink”:”topic/antony-blinken”,”permalink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/antony-blinken”,”mobileWebLink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/antony-blinken”},”url”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/antony-blinken”}],”isLiveblogLive”:null,”isLiveblog”:false,”cetUnit”:”buzz_body”,”bodyAds”:[“
rnrn”,”
rnrn”,”
rnrn”],”adCount”:0},”isCollectionEmbed”:false}”>
Turkish Foreign Minister @HakanFidan and I met to discuss the situation in Syria and the importance of a Syria-led and Syrian-owned transition. We also spoke about the need to protect the rights and freedoms of Syrians, including members of minorities, during this pivotal time. pic.twitter.com/rSjmn4gk3i
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) December 13, 2024
HTS, which was once an affiliate of al-Qaida, has been designed as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department since 2018. That designation carries with it severe sanctions, including a ban on the provision of any “material support” to the group or its members. The sanctions do not, however, legally bar U.S. officials from communicating with designated groups.
HTS has worked to establish security and start a political transition after seizing Damascus and has tried to reassure a public both stunned by Assad’s fall and concerned about extremist jihadis among the rebels. Insurgent leaders say the group has broken with its extremist past.
The group’s leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, appeared in a video message Friday congratulating “the great Syrian people for the victory of the blessed revolution.”
U.S. officials say Sharaa has been making welcome comments about protecting minority and women’s rights but remain skeptical that he will follow through on them in the long run.
We Need Your Support
Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.
Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can’t do it without you.
Can’t afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
You’ve supported HuffPost before, and we’ll be honest — we could use your help again. We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can’t do it without you.
Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.
You’ve supported HuffPost before, and we’ll be honest — we could use your help again. We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can’t do it without you.
Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
On Friday, the rebels and Syria’s unarmed opposition worked to safely turn over to U.S. officials an American man who had been imprisoned by Assad.
Related
