US makes direct contact with Syria’s HTS: Blinken

AQABA, Jordan: The United States has made “direct contact” with Syria’s victorious Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels despite designating the group as terrorists, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday, as he sought international unity on a peaceful transition.

“We’ve been in contact with HTS and with other parties,” Blinken told reporters after talks on Syria in the Jordanian Red Sea resort of Aqaba. He did not give details on how the contact took place but when asked if the United States reached out directly, he said: “Direct contact -- yes.”

Blinken said that the contact was partly related to the search for Austin Tice, the US journalist who was kidnapped in 2012 near the start of the brutal civil war. “We have pressed upon everyone we’ve been in contact with the importance of helping find Austin Tice and bringing him home,” Blinken said.

In Aqaba, Blinken took part in talks that brought together top Arab and European diplomats as well as Turkey, the main supporter of rebel groups in Syria.