By The Jerusalem Post (World News) | Created at 2024-12-21 02:05:08 | Updated at 2024-12-21 05:17:18
4 hours ago
In a historic Damascus visit, US rejects Iran's influence and outlines support for Syria's post-Assad rebuilding.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF DECEMBER 21, 2024 03:01 Updated: DECEMBER 21, 2024 03:19
A man walks on a poster of Bashar al-Assad as a sanitation worker removes it from the street downtown, after Syrian rebels announced that they have ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria December 10, 2024.
(photo credit: REUTERS/AMR ABDALLAH DALSH)
Senior US diplomatic officials emphasized that Iran "will have no role whatsoever" in Syria's rebuilding efforts in America's first visit to Damascus since the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2012.
"Iran’s had decades now of the most predatory and destructive behavior and presence in Syria. So, it’s hard for me to imagine Iran having any role whatsoever," Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf said.
The American delegation's visit to Syria marks the start of new diplomatic efforts between the countries after Bashar Assad's fall, Leaf emphasized.
"After five decades of the Assad regime’s tyranny, Syrians have a rare opportunity to rebuild and reshape their country," she said. Leaf added that the US received "positive messages" in meetings with interim government authorities and that the US "will be looking for progress on these principles in actions, not just words."
The assistant secretary also noted that the US would be pursuing accountability for Assad to the fullest extent of its abilities.
"Obviously, accountability and justice for the crimes of decades, but especially the crimes committed during and after the civil war – Syrians desperately want that," Leaf said. "It behooves all of us in the international community to lean into this to offer the technical expertise and other support to deal with what is just a confounding mass of documentation of these crimes, as well as just a terrifyingly large number of graves and mass graves. That will be a priority for our government, for certain.
Leaf further noted that Turkey might play a larger role in supporting Syria.
"It’s a neighboring state, and it has national security interests and all sorts of other interests," she said. "What our government would like to see is a Syria that can stand on its own two feet, that can regain, like its neighbor Iraq, a full measure of sovereignty over its own affairs – Syria no longer being a source of insecurity, instability, drug trafficking, and so forth."
Leaf was joined by the US Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Roger D. Carstens. The delegation's press conference came after the US announced it would be removing its bounty on Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani.
"If I’m sitting with the HTS leader and having a lengthy, detailed discussion about a whole series of regional interests, suffice to say it’s a little incoherent then to have a bounty on the guy’s head," Leaf said.
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"Our approach to Syria is very much rooted in the belief that we can best help the Syrian people exit this long national nightmare and get onto a road of not just recovery but actually seizing the opportunity to build a new Syria," Leaf continued when asked how the US can best support a stable Syrian democracy. "We can best do that with policies that aim to support the sovereignty that has been so trampled upon by Russia and Iran over these years, but also help them achieve stability."
The secretary reaffirmed the US's commitment to rebuilding Syria as a democratic nation and to prevent malevolent actors from filling the power void Assad left behind.
"A society comes out of over five decades of the most horrifying repression and then this terrible civil war. There’s obviously potential for a lot of internal conflict," Leaf said. However, she noted that in her conversations with Syrians during her visit, there was a common theme "one Syria for one people and unity above all."
Where is Austin Tice?
Carstens emphasized at the meeting that there was no definitive information that proved American Austin Tice's whereabouts.
"Over 12 years, we’ve been able to pinpoint about six facilities that we believe have a high possibility of having had Austin Tice at one point or another," he said, noting that that the number of secret prisons was higher than he anticipated."I think initially, we thought there’d be maybe 10 or 20 [secret prisons]. It’s probably more like 40. It might even be more. "
Carstens noted that the US had received a great deal of information that needed constant scrutiny but that
"We’re not going to stop until we find the information that we need to conclude what has happened to Austin, where he is, and to return him home to his family," Carstens said.
