A group of U.S. officials, including US Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, and NEA Senior Adviser Daniel Rubinstein, has arrived in Damascus, Syria, for the first time in over 10 years. The team is seeking information on American citizens who disappeared under the Assad regime, including former marine turned freelance journalist Austin Tice, who was kidnapped while reporting in Syria in 2012.
The officials will also meet with representatives of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a U.S.-designated terrorist group, to discuss transition principles endorsed by the United States and regional partners. Additionally, they will engage directly with the Syrian people, including members of civil society, activists, and other Syrian voices, to uncover their vision for their country’s future and ask how the U.S. can support them.
The visit comes after a meeting between world leaders in the Jordanian city of Aqaba earlier this month, where they discussed the need for an inclusive, Syrian-led political transition. The U.S. supports a future government in Syria that is chosen by and representative of all Syrians.
The team will also seek to determine what has happened to American citizens who disappeared under the Assad regime, including Austin Tice, and to coordinate with allies to advance principles laid out in the Aqaba meeting. The State Department’s Reward for Justice program is offering up to $10 million for information relating to Tice’s whereabouts.