US says in contact with new Syria rulers

The United States said Saturday it had made contact with Syria's victorious Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham rebels, as Western and Arab states along with Turkey jointly voiced support for a united, peaceful Syria.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken's comment on "direct contact" with the HTS rebels came despite the United States having designated the group as terrorists in 2018.

While Blinken and other diplomats held talks on Syria in Aqaba, Jordan, Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus, nearly a week after the Islamist-led rebels toppled president Bashar al-Assad and 12 years after Ankara's diplomatic mission was shuttered early in Syria's civil war.

"We've been in contact with HTS and with other parties," Blinken told reporters, without specifying how the contact took place.

Ankara has been a major player in Syria's conflict, holding considerable sway in the northwest, financing armed groups there, and maintaining a working relationship with HTS, which spearheaded the offensive that toppled Assad.

In a joint statement after the meeting in Jordan, diplomats from the United States, Turkey, the European Union and Arab countries "affirmed the full support to the Syrian people at this critical point in their history to build a more hopeful, secure and peaceful future."

They called for a Syrian-led transition to "produce an inclusive, non-sectarian and representative government formed through a transparent process," with respect for human rights.

"Syria finally has the chance to end decades of isolation," the group said.

The head of the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, in the country's northeast, on Saturday, appealed on X for Kurds "to adopt a favorable position toward the Syrian dialogue."

U.N. special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen urged participants in the Jordan talks to provide humanitarian aid and to ensure "that state institutions do not collapse."

A Qatari diplomat said Friday that a delegation from the Gulf emirate would visit Syria on Sunday to meet transitional government officials for talks on aid and reopening its embassy.

Unlike other Arab states, Qatar never restored diplomatic ties with Assad after a rupture in 2011.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in Jordan that the bloc, Syria's biggest aid provider, is "interested in rebuilding and reconstruction of Syria."

Assad fled Syria last weekend, hours before rebel forces seized Damascus, five former officials told AFP.

His flight left Syrians in joyous disbelief at the sudden end to an era in which suspected dissidents were jailed or killed.

It capped more than a decade of war that killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.