US withdraws $10 million bounty for new Syrian leader
The US will no longer offer a $10 million reward for information leading to the capture of Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani, following Washington delegation's meeting with the leadership of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Damascus on Friday.
Earlier this month, Syrian opposition forces led by HTS jihadists launched a surprise offensive across the country, capturing several major cities, including the capital, Damascus. In response, Syrian President Bashar Assad resigned and was granted asylum in Russia.
As part of a broader diplomatic “engagement” with the new Syrian leadership, Barbara Leaf, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, led the delegation to Syria on Friday, marking the first visit by American diplomats since 2012, when the US embassy in Damascus was closed.
During her meeting with al-Sharaa, Leaf discussed several key issues, including the need to prevent terrorist groups from operating within Syria and to ensure the protection of minority and women's rights.
“We also discussed the critical need to ensure that terrorist groups cannot pose a threat inside Syria or externally, including to the US and our partners in the region,” Leaf said during a telephone briefing from Jordan. “Based on our discussion, I informed him that we would not be pursuing the Rewards for Justice offer that has been in effect for some years.”
Despite this move, HTS remains designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, and sanctions stemming from this designation are still in place. Leaf emphasized that the decision to withdraw the bounty was a policy shift aimed at legitimizing engagement with the group.
“If I’m sitting with the HTS leader and having a lengthy, detailed discussion, it’s a little incoherent to have a bounty on his head,” she noted. “Otherwise, I should ask the FBI to come in and arrest him or something.”
The US delegation also included Roger Carstens, the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, and Daniel Rubinstein, a senior adviser handling relations with the new Syrian forces. They discussed the fate of missing American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012, among other issues.
This week, the US military revealed it had doubled its forces in Syria to approximately 2,000 troops before Assad's fall, aiming to prevent Islamic State (IS) terrorists from exploiting the upheaval. The Pentagon conducted airstrikes in northeastern Syria on Thursday, allegedly killing one of the terrorist group’s leaders.
While the immediate reopening of the US embassy in Damascus is not planned, Leaf indicated that future diplomatic recognition would depend on the actions of the new Syrian authorities.
