The United States removes the bounty (al Julani) Ahmed al Sharaa
The US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs said that Ahmed al Sharaa appeared to be a practical man.
She said the discussions with Shara were very good, very fruitful and detailed.
Barbara Leaf told Sharaa that Washington had canceled its reward for information leading to his capture, while welcoming the positive messages he had expressed in talks with him, including a pledge to fight terrorism.
“Based on our conversations, I informed him that we won’t be pursuing the rewards for Justice program that has been in place for several years,” Barbara Leaf said after meeting Sharaa in Damascus.
“Providing technical expertise and other support to Syria to deal with documentation of Assad’s crimes and mass graves will be a priority for the US government,” Leaf said.
She added that she expected Damascus to completely end any role for Iran, an ally of ousted President Bashar al Assad.
“Based on today’s data, Iran will have no role at all, and shouldn’t have any role in Syria,” Leaf told reporters.
The US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs denied, following her first visit to Syria since the fall of Assad, that security concerns were behind the cancellation of her press conference in Damascus, saying that it was postponed due to celebrations in the streets.
“Our security service was very careful about our stay in the city, so I just want to make it clear that there was no security issue… We just couldn’t get there in time before we had to leave the city,” Barbara Leaf told reporters.
A US State Department spokesman said US diplomats discussed principles for a transition of power in Syria and regional events at a meeting with representatives of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham in Damascus on Friday.
The spokesman added that the diplomats also discussed issues related to the fate of missing journalist Austin Tice and other US citizens who disappeared during the Bashar al Assad regime.
A source close to the new authority in Damascus revealed that the leader of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, Ahmed al Sharaa, held a positive meeting with the delegation headed by the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf,
