WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The first U.S. diplomats to visit Syria since President Bashar Assad鈥檚 ouster earlier this month are now in Damascus to hold talks with the country鈥檚 new leaders and seek information on the whereabouts of .
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, former special envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein and the Biden administration鈥檚 chief envoy for hostage negotiations, Roger Carstens, made the trip for , the State Department said early Friday.
The team is also the first group of American diplomats to formally visit Syria in more than a decade since the U.S. shuttered its embassy in Damascus in 2012.
鈥淭hey will be engaging directly with the Syrian people, including members of civil society, activists, members of different communities, and other Syrian voices about their vision for the future of their country and how the United States can help support them,鈥� the State Department said.
At the top of their agenda will be information about Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012. And they will push the principles of inclusion, protection of minorities and a rejection of terrorism and chemical weapons that the Biden administration says will be .
The and return him home, saying officials have communicated with the rebels who ousted Assad's government about the American journalist. Carstens traveled previously to Lebanon to seek information.
Tice, who has had his work published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and others, disappeared at a checkpoint in a contested area west of Damascus as the Syrian civil war intensified.
A video released weeks after Tice went missing showed him blindfolded and held by armed men and saying, 鈥淥h, Jesus.鈥� He has not been heard from since. that it was holding him.
The rebel group that spearheaded the assault on Damascus that forced Assad to flee 鈥� Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS 鈥� is designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and others. While that designation comes with a raft of sanctions, it does not prohibit U.S. officials from speaking to its members or leaders.
The State Department said Rubinstein, Leaf and Carstens would meet with HTS officials but did not say if the group's leader , who was once aligned with al-Qaida, would be among those they see.
U.S. officials say al-Sharaa鈥檚 public statements about protecting minority and women鈥檚 rights are welcomed, but they remain skeptical that he will follow through on them in the long run.
The U.S. has not had a formal diplomatic presence in Syria since 2012, when it suspended operations at its embassy in Damascus during the country鈥檚 civil war, although there are U.S. troops in small parts of Syria engaged in the fight against the Islamic State militant group.
The Pentagon revealed Thursday that the to fight IS before Assad鈥檚 fall. The U.S. also has significantly stepped up airstrikes against IS targets over concern that a power vacuum would allow the militant group to reconstitute itself.
The diplomats' visit to Damascus will not result in the immediate reopening of the U.S. embassy, which is under the protection of the Czech government, according to U.S. officials, who said decisions on diplomatic recognition will be made when the new Syrian authorities make their intentions clear.
Matthew Lee, The Associated Press
