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The Biden administration has raised a $10 million bounty on the head of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad in Syria
In return, al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolaniagreed to a US demand not to allow terrorist groups in Syria to threaten the US or its neighbors.
“We had a good, in-depth discussion on a number of regional issues,” Barbara Leaf, the top US envoy to the Middle East, told reporters at her Friday meeting with al-Sharaa.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted Assad from Damascus earlier this month. While other rebel factions remain throughout the country, HTS has amassed control over much of Syria.
HTS was founded as an offshoot of Al Qaeda, but split from the group in 2016. It evolved from the Nusrah Front, which was designated a terrorist group in 2012, and in 2018 the US added the designation of HTS terrorism.
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The Biden administration has raised a $10 million bounty on Chief Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of the group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
“It was a political decision … aligned with the fact that we are starting a discussion with HTS,” Leaf explained.
“So if I sit down with the leader of HTS and have a long detailed discussion about the interests of the United States, the interests of Syria, maybe the interests of the region, it’s enough to say a little incoherent to have a bounty on that guy.”
The group has been trying to shake off its extremist reputation and designation, with al-Sharaa saying it does not want Syria to become. the next Afghanistan and believes in education for women.
“We have had universities in Idlib for more than eight years,” Sharaa told the BBC, referring to the northwestern Syrian province that HTS has occupied since 2011.
Bashar al-Assad was ousted from Damascus earlier this month by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. (Borna News/Matin Ghasemi/Aksonline ATPImages/Getty Images)
“I think the percentage of women in universities is over 60%.”
“He seemed pragmatic,” Leaf said. “It was a good first meeting. We will judge by deeds, not just by words.”
US officials have visited Syria to push for a pragmatic government and to find information on the whereabouts of detained US journalist Austin Tice.
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The US has had a mixed relationship with HTS due to its militant Islamist roots.
Al-Sharaa has said that HTS is not a terrorist group because it does not target civilians or civilian areas, and that they consider themselves victims of the Assad regime’s crime.
The US has launched an aggressive airstrikes campaign in northeastern Syria to flush out IS militants, fearing a resurgence amid upheaval in Syria that could lead to the release of more than 8,000 IS prisoners, “a major security concern,” Pentagon says .
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The The Pentagon disclosed Thursday that the US doubled the number of its forces from 900 to approximately 2,000 to fight IS before Assad’s fall.
