Financial Times: Biden sends senior diplomats to Damascus.
Although the US has designated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham as a terrorist organization and has even offered a $10 million bounty on its leader, Abu Muhammad al-Julani, it is now seeking to establish contact with them after the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria.
Accordingly, informed sources who did not want to be named said that US President Joe Biden is planning to send his senior diplomats to Damascus to meet with Abu Muhammad al-Julani.
These sources say that Barbara Leaf, a senior US diplomat at the State Department, is set to lead the US diplomatic delegation to Damascus. This will be the first official meeting between Biden administration officials and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Damascus.
The US had previously contacted Hayat Tahrir al-Sham through Turkey and established relations with the group.
The Biden administration is eager to remove them from the list of terrorist organizations to develop relations with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.
However, US Congressional lawmakers emphasize that it is still too early for Washington to talk about lifting sanctions on Syria, something that al-Jolani had previously called for.