U.S. Officials to Hold Talks with Syria’s New Rulers

Officials of the U.S. Department of States are in Syria to hold talks with the new rulers there, encouraging a moderate and all-inclusive way, news organisations reported on Friday.

Though U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had been touring and meeting heads of states of various Middle-east nations, this is the first formal U.S. team to directly talk to the new rulers in Syria. The officials are in Damascus, Syrian capital and one of civilisation’s oldest cities. The officials are set to meet representatives of Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), who overthrew autocratic ruler Bashar al-Assad. Assad escaped to Russia after the fall of Damascus, according to reports.

The U.S. Department of State delegation includes Barbara Leaf, who is the top State Department official for the Middle East, and Daniel Rubinstein, a veteran US diplomat in the Arab world, among others.

The U.S. reportedly wants a friendly government in Syria, which had earlier been an ally of Russia and Iran when Assad family ruled. According to the U.S. interest, Syria should have a government that will respect democratic values as well as the rights of minorities. Damacus has a sizable Christian population, who are one of oldest Christians owing to the association of St Paul with Damascus, who is credited for spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire.