High-level US delegation makes rare visit to rebel-held northwest Syria
It is the first such visit in six years since members of the US Congress went to Syria led by late Senator John McCain.
US delegation visits rebel-held Syria on August 27
Published On 27 Aug 2023
27 Aug 2023
A high-level United States delegation has made a rare visit to rebel-held territory in northwestern Syria in an effort to highlight the “ongoing humanitarian catastrophe” there.
The delegation that arrived on Sunday included three members of the US Congress – Ben Cline, Scott Fitzgerald, and French Hill – all members of the US Republican Party.
orphaned Syrian children [Bakr Alkasem/Al Jazeera]
‘Surprising and unexpected’
This marks the first such visit since 2017, when members of Congress went to Syria led by late Senator John McCain – one of the strongest advocates of US military aid for the Syrian opposition during the war.
Last week, the opposition’s “provisional government” announced a meeting in Turkey between its leader Abdurrahman Mustafa and Nicholas Granger, the US State Department envoy to north and east Syria.
Discussions focused on the political, military, and economic situation in areas freed from pro-al-Assad forces.
“The visit of the American delegation today was surprising and unexpected, following a hiatus that lasted years after the cessation of military support to opposition factions in 2017,” said Riyad al-Khatib, 32, from the city of Mare in the Aleppo governate.
The US launched measures to support opposition factions in Syria in 2013, but froze those efforts during former President Donald Trump’s tenure in 2017.
Subsequently, military support became limited to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) located in eastern Syria, which has fought the armed group ISIL (ISIS) in addition to supporting opposition factions near a US base on the Syrian-Jordanian border.
“We need there to be frequent visits to the region, not only by the United States but also by European Union countries to assess the humanitarian situation in the area,” al-Khatib said.
“The region continues to experience ongoing bombardment by the Assad regime, Russia, and Iran, and at times by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.”
Moar: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/27/high-level-us-delegation-makes-rare-visit-to-rebel-held-syria
https://www.npr.org/2023/08/27/1196258761/members-of-us-congress-visit-syria-assad-civil-war