US, UK in 'contact' with new Syria regime

Britain has had diplomatic contact with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that swept Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power last week, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Sunday, a day after his US counterpart confirmed direct contacts with new Syrian rulers.

"HTS remains a proscribed organisation, but we can have diplomatic contact and so we do have diplomatic contact…," Lammy said. "Using all the channels that we have available, and those are diplomatic and, of course, intelligence-led channels, we seek to deal with HTS where we have to."

On Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States has had direct contact with the HTS, despite previously designating the group as terrorists. However, neither Lammy nor Blinken specified how the "direct contact" took place.

The comments came after US shuttle diplomacy on Syria that took Blinken to Jordan, where he joined Middle Eastern, Turkish and Western diplomats for talks on the war-ravaged country. Turkey meanwhile, reopened its embassy in Damascus, nearly a week after Assad's departure.

On Sunday, Blinken and Lammy spoke by telephone, the State Department said in a statement. Blinken told Lammy that Washington would back "an accountable and representative" government in Syria "chosen by the Syrian people", the State Department said.

The call came as Syria's de facto ruler said in an interview that he was not interested in engaging in new conflicts rather focusing on rebuilding. "Syria's war-weary condition, after years of conflict and war, does not allow for new confrontations."

Despite the moderate tone of al-Jolani, Israel said on Sunday it would to double its population on the occupied Golan Heights. "Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

Netanyahu also spoke with US president-elect Donald Trump about developments in Syria and a recent push to secure the release of Israeli and foreign hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, he said. Netanyahu said he spoke with Trump on Saturday night. "We have no interest in a conflict with Syria," he added.

Israeli actions in Syria were intended to "thwart the potential threats from Syria and to prevent the takeover of terrorist elements near our border," he said in a statement. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that the latest developments in Syria increased the threat to Israel.

Netanyahu's office said the government unanimously approved a more than $11 million plan to encourage demographic growth in the Golan "in light of the war and the new front facing Syria, and out of a desire to double the population of the Golan". The Golan is home to 24,000 Druze minority.

Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, have condemned Israel's seizure of a buffer zone in the Golan Heights. Al-Jolani said that Israel was using false pretexts to justify its attacks on Syria