The Wall Street Journal: A White House official visited Damascus to hold secret meetings with the Syrian government seeking the release of American citizens
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, that a White House official has traveled to Damascus to hold secret meetings with the Syrian government seeking the release of at least two American citizens whom Washington believes are being held by President Bashar al Assad’s government.
The issue of American detainees abroad is one of the most important priorities of the Trump administration, since the beginning of his term, as he was keen to release prisoners in North Korea, and he also applied great pressure to release detainees in Iran.
The newspaper reported, according to members of the US President Donald Trump’s administration, and other sources familiar with the progress of the talks, that the US Vice President’s Assistant Cash Patel, who is a prominent counterterrorism official at the White House, visited Damascus early this year to hold secret meetings with The government of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, in order to achieve the release of two American citizens who are considered to be held by the country’s authorities.
The sources did not disclose the officials that Patel met, but they clarified that the talks were held with the aim of reaching a “deal with Assad” that would lead to the release of the independent American journalist, Austin Tice, who had previously served in the Marines and disappeared during his coverage of developments in Syria in 2012.
And Syrian-US doctor, Majid Kamalmaz, who disappeared after being detained at a Syrian government forces checkpoint in 2017.
It is also considered that there are at least 4 other American citizens detained by the Syrian authorities, but there is, according to the newspaper, little information about their cases.
The newspaper indicated in a report that this is the first visit of a high-ranking US official to Syria in about 10 years.
The wall street journal explained that the last known meetings between White House officials and the Syrian authorities were held in Damascus in 2010, noting that the US government cut diplomatic relations with Syria in 2012 in response to the “suppression of demonstrations” in the country.
Since then, the US authorities, led by former President Barack Obama, and his successor, Trump, have made great efforts to isolate the Syrian government in the international arena and imposed wide sanctions on the authorities in Damascus.
However, Trump has repeatedly directed his statements to the Assad government, requesting the release of American detainees.
Last August, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed that in March Trump sent a message to Assad about the fate of journalist Austin.
It worth mentioning that an official source at the Syrian government confirms the news regarding the meetings between US officials and Syrian officials in Damascus including Gen. Ali Mamluk the director to Syrian national security office.
