Syria agrees to help find missing Americans, says the American envoy

The new Sirius The government has agreed to help the United States locate and return to Americans who were disappeared in the country devastated by warthe special envoy of the United States to Syria said Sunday, in another sign of defrosting bilateral ties between the two countries.

Thomas Barrack, the American ambassador to Türkiye, who was also appointed special sent from Syria, described in an X position that was a “passage of power” between the two nations.

“The families of Austin Tice, Majd Kamalmaz and Kayla Mueller must have a closure,” he added, referring to US citizens who had disappeared or were killed in Syria during the devastating civil war that exploded in 2011.

“President Trump has made it clear that bringing home to US citizens or honor, with dignity, his remains is an important priority everywhere,” said Barrack. “The new Syrian government will help us in this commitment.”

A Syrian source with knowledge of the conversations between the two countries told News that there were another 11 names on the missing American list of Washington. All of them are American Syrians.

The announcement occurs after Barrack met with the president and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Syria during his visit to Türkiye on Saturday. It also occurs when relations between the two nations have constantly improved since former President Bashar Al-Assad was expelled in December.

On Friday, the Trump administration granted Syria Radical Exemptions of the sanctions in an important first step to comply with the promise of the president to raise half a century of sanctions in a country destroyed by 14 years of civil war.

In a statement on Saturday, Barrack said Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa welcomed Washington’s rapid action to lift the sanctions. “

“The objective of President Trump is to allow the new government to believe the conditions for the Syrian people not only to survive but also prosper,” Barrack said in a statement.

Barrack said he emphasized that the cessation of sanctions against Syria will preserve the integrity “of our main objective: the lasting defeat of the” group of the Islamic State, also known as IS or ISIS. He added that he will give Syrias an opportunity for a better future.

“I also praised President Al -Sharaa for taking significant measures to promulgate President Trump’s points on foreign terrorist combatants, measures against -isis, relations with Israel and camps and detention centers in the northeast of Syria,” said Barrack. He was referring to detention centers where thousands of ISIS and two fields are celebrated where their families remain in areas currently controlled by Syrian democratic forces backed by the United States and led by Kurdas.

The sanctions of the Congress, known as the Civil Protection Law of César Syria, had aimed to isolate the previous rulers of Syria by effectively expelling those who do business with them from the global financial system. They specifically block the reconstruction of the postwar period, so, although they can be renounced for 180 days in executive order, investors are likely to distrust reconstruction projects when the sanctions could be reinstated after six months.

Mr. Trump said During a visit to the region Earlier this month than the The United States would go back the strong financial sanctions in an attempt to give the interim government a better opportunity for survival.

In:
• Syria
• Middle East

French agency Presse contributed to this report.