US removes NZ$17 million bounty on Syrian rebel leader following meeting

The United States has removed the long-standing US$10m (NZ$17m) bounty on the de-facto leader of Syria following a high-level delegation meeting with the former jihadist on Friday (local time).

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, one of three US officials who sat down with Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus, described the "policy decision" as one aligned with the need to work on "critical issues" such as combating terrorism.

Al-Sharaa "committed to this," Leaf said, "and so based on our discussion, I told him we would not be pursuing the Rewards for Justice reward offer that has been in effect for some years."

Al-Sharaa is the leader of the US-designated terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

At the meeting, al-Sharaa, formerly called Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, underscored the urgency of US efforts to engage with Syria's interim government to ensure the country does not see a resurgence of ISIS which US officials have warned will seek to regroup in the wake of the stunning collapse of the Syrian regime.

The international community has also rushed to endorse a set of principles meant to guide the transition to a new Syrian government that is inclusive and respectful of human rights, which would mark a sharp departure from Assad's brutal rule.

Leaf said al-Sharaa "came across as pragmatic" and described their meeting in Damascus as "quite good, very productive, detailed".

Another source familiar with the meeting said it lasted just under two hours.

"It was good first meeting," Leaf said, noting they "ranged over a wide set of issues, domestic and external".

"We've been hearing this for some time, some very pragmatic and moderate statements on various issues, from women's rights to protection of, you know, equal rights for all communities, etc," she said.

"We will judge by deeds, not just by words. Deeds are the critical thing," Leaf said.

Leaf, special presidential envoy for hostage affairs Roger Carstens and NEA senior adviser Daniel Rubinstein were the first US officials to travel to Syria following the collapse of the Syrian government less than two weeks ago.

The US had been in direct contact with HTS on these matters and had received a commitment to help find Austin Tice, an American journalist detained in Syria more than a decade ago.

The US also hopes to find more information about the fate of other Americans who disappeared, like Majd Kamalmaz.

Carstens said Friday that the US has focused its search for Austin Tice on "six facilities that we believe have a high possibility of having had Austin Tice at one point or another".

"They have received "additional information … which lead us to add maybe one or two or three more facilities to that initial number."

However, due to "limited resources," their focus has been on the initial half dozen, Carstens said, suggesting that the FBI should be on the ground more to help with the search.

"Since State cannot be on the ground, nor can the FBI for an extended amount of time right now, we've been working with our partners, allies, NGOs and even members of the media to take a look at these facilities and give us a sense of what they're seeing, what they're finding," he said in response to a question from CNN during a virtual press briefing.

"As time goes on, in the coming days, weeks and months, it'll be our duty, our responsibility, to go to the first six sites and search them thoroughly, in addition to knowing that our partners and allies and friends have already searched them, to really fine-tune the evidence gathering in a way that only the FBI can do," he said.

"Additionally, we want to keep fanning that search out to the remaining facilities, and it could end up being like 20 or 30 or 40 prison sites as time goes on," Carstens said, noting that the US will do that with "the interim authorities, who to this point have been very helpful in these searches."

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

- CNN