The Biden administration is lifting a $10 million bounty it placed on the head of Ahmed Al-Sharaa, leader of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group that overthrew Syria’s Bashar al-Assad earlier this month.
The move comes after U.S. diplomats met with HTS in Damascus last week. In exchange for the removal of the bounty, Sharaa reportedly agreed that terror groups in Syria would not pose a threat to America or its allies.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) drove Assad out of 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 broke away from the group in 2016. It evolved from the Nusrah Front, which was designated as a terrorist group in 2012, and in 2018 the U.S. added HTS’ terrorism designation. (Fox News)
Barbara Leaf, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, told reporters her discussions with Sharaa “were diplomatic in nature” and covered a number of regional and domestic issues.
“I would characterize the discussion as quite good, very productive, detailed,” she said. “We ranged over a wide set of issues, domestic and external. He came across as pragmatic. Of course, we are – we’ve been hearing this for some time, some very pragmatic and moderate statements on various issues from women’s rights to protection of equal rights for all communities, etc.
“Again, I mean, it was a good first meeting,” she continued. “We will judge by deeds, not just by words. Deeds are the critical thing.”
Reporters also pressed her on the "dynamic of removing the $10 million bounty on somebody who’s wanted by the FBI list" and what message that sends to others on the list.
"So this is a decision, a policy decision, that was made in the interests of and consonant with and aligned with the fact that we are beginning a discussion with HTS," Leaf explained. "So, if I’m sitting with the HTS leader and having a lengthy, detailed discussion about a whole series of ... interests of the U.S., interests of Syria, maybe interests of the region, suffice to say it’s a little incoherent then to have a bounty on the guy’s head. Otherwise, I should ask the FBI to come in and, like, arrest him or something. So, I’m being facetious, but you know what I mean. We have a set of issues that we would like to discuss with HTS over time, and it is strictly pertaining to Syria and to the circumstances that we see before us. So no, it has no bearing on any other person."