US diplomats arrive in Syria to talk to Islamist rulers about country’s future

US envoys have arrived in Syria to speak directly to the new Islamist-led rulers, the State Department says, in the most formal US diplomatic mission since the start of the long civil war.

The State Department’s top Middle East diplomat Barbara Leaf, Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens and newly appointed Senior Adviser Daniel Rubinstein, who is now tasked with leading the Department’s Syria engagement, are the first US diplomats to travel to Damascus since Syria’s opposition militias overthrew oppressive president Bashar al-Assad.

The diplomats will meet representatives of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — designated a terrorist group by Washington — and civil society to discuss with Syrians “their vision for the future of their country and how the United States can help support them,” a State Department spokesperson says.