Blinken says US in contact with Syrian rebels

Secy of State refuses to divulge details but says he has conveyed the message to HTS that it is being watched

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AMERICAN officials have been in direct contact with the terrorist-designated rebel group that led the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday.

Blinken, speaking at a news conference in Jordan, was the first US official to publicly confirm contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which led a coalition of armed opposition groups that drove Assad from power and into asylum in Russia last weekend.

Along with counterparts from eight Arab nations and Turkey and senior officials from the European Union and United Nations, Blinken signed off on a set of principles meant to guide Syria's transition to a peaceful, nonsectarian and inclusive country.