US is not reviewing HTS terrorist designation, but may do so in future, State Department says
The United States is not currently reviewing the terrorist designation of the leading Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), but could still change it in the future, according to a State Department spokesperson.
“We are always reviewing our sanctions posture with entities based on their actions, so when entities take different actions, of course, there could be a change in in our sanctions posture,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a briefing.
Miller noted that such designations, like all US sanctions, “are designed to be an incentive to different courses of actions.”
US hostage envoy is in Beirut as part of efforts to find freelance journalist held in Syria since 2012
Freelance journalist Austin Tice went missing in Syria in 2014 and has not been heard from since.
The top US hostage envoy Roger Carstens is in Beirut as part of the “intensive efforts” to find freelance journalist Austin Tice, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday.
The Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs’ travels to the Lebanese capital comes as US officials have intensified efforts to find the detained journalist following the collapse of the Assad government.
“We encourage anyone who has information about Austin’s whereabouts to contact the FBI immediately,” Miller said at a briefing, noting that there is a reward.
CNN reported this weekend that US officials have reached out to Syrian opposition forces about Tice, hoping to learn more about his whereabouts. He was detained at a checkpoint in Damascus in August 2012. The government of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad did not publicly acknowledged detaining Tice.
US has "taken steps to secure our embassy" building in Syria, State Department says
The United States has “taken steps to secure our embassy” facility in Syria following the collapse of the Assad government, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Monday. The US suspended operations at its embassy in Damascus in February 2012 and did not have diplomatic relations with the Assad government. Czech Republic had served as the US protecting power in Syria, but Miller noted that it had left the embassy in the Syrian capital.
“We have taken steps to secure our embassy, and we believe that our embassy, which, of course, we’re not staffing at the time, but that our embassy is still secure,” Miller said at a briefing.
Miller said there were no US personnel there, but the US is “at times able to engage with local parties to maintain the security of our embassy, make sure that is not breached, and we have taken those steps.”
