The first United States diplomats to visit Syria since President Bashar Assad was removed earlier this month are holding talks in Damascus with the country's new leaders, including the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that Washington had designated as a terrorist organisation.
The State Department said Rubinstein, Leaf and Carstens were scheduled to meet with HTS officials but did not say whether these would include the group's leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaeda.
Western states have been mulling over whether to lift HTS's terrorist designation, which comes with a group of sanctions. It, however, does not prohibit US officials from speaking to its members or leaders.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the US admitted it had about 900 troops in Syria approximately 2,000 soldiers or double the previous estimate, as discussions for future strategies unfold.
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