The Biden administration will not revoke the terror designation on Syria’s “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,” according to US officials familiar with the matter.
The US has made clear since it first reached out to HTS and Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, that it would need to see words turned into action.
Biden administration officials told Al Arabiya English that they are still trying to understand what the new Syrian leadership plans to do and how. And with less than two weeks before the Trump administration takes office, it was determined that there is not enough time to assess and make a decision.
The Washington Post reported the decision on Wednesday; however, the conclusion had been made previously that it would best be left for the Trump administration to either maintain or lift the designation.
Senior US officials met with al-Sharaa, a US-designated terrorist, during their first trip to Syria since the fall of the al-Assad regime last month. The top US diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, said she told al-Sharaa that Washington would no longer pursue the $10 million bounty on his head. Leaf said al-Sharaa vowed to not allow terrorist groups to operate in Syria or threaten the US or neighboring countries.
Leaf was accompanied by Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, and a senior advisor, Daniel Rubinstein. Rubinstein will serve as a senior advisor in the Bureau of Near East Affairs and will lead the State Department’s diplomatic engagement on Syria. Rubinstein and other State Department officials have made more trips to Damascus since the first visit.
Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs John Bass will travel to Turkey this week to push for “a peaceful, inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition in the spirit of UN Security Council Resolution 2254,” the State Department said on Wednesday. “He will also participate in meetings on the importance of regional stability, preventing Syria from being used as a base for terrorism, and ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS,” the State Department said.
