Britain sends delegation of senior diplomats to Syria for talks with the rebels who brought down Bashar al-Assad's regime
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Britain has sent a delegation of senior diplomats to Syria for talks with the rebels who brought down Bashar al-Assad’s regime, David Lammy said last night. The Foreign Secretary said the team will tell leaders of the paramilitary group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that the UK wants to see chemical weapons stockpiles secured.
![[UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir O Petersen meets HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani in Damascus]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/00/93214035-14199643-UN_Special_Envoy_for_Syria_Geir_O_Petersen_meets_HTS_leader_Abu_-a-28_1734396137162.jpg)
They will also urge them to allow for an ‘inclusive transitional political process that is Syrian-led and Syrian-owned’, he added. HTS spearheaded the overthrowing of the Syrian president this month and there was confusion about whether Britain can and should have meaningful contact with it while it remains a banned terrorist organisation.
![[People celebrate the collapse of 61 years of Baath Party rule in Umayyad Square after armed groups, opposing the Assad regime, take control in Damascus]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/00/93193891-14199643-People_celebrate_the_collapse_of_61_years_of_Baath_Party_rule_in-a-31_1734396337888.jpg)
It was once an affiliate of Al Qaeda but the group’s insurgent leaders claim it has broken with its extremist past. However, it remains banned in the UK and ministers have not said if they will lift this. On Sunday night, Mr Lammy said that ‘diplomatic contact’ had been had with HTS.
![[Workers carry human remains from a newly uncovered mass grave in a field in Izra, in Syria's southern Daraa province]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/00/93195041-14199643-Workers_carry_human_remains_from_a_newly_uncovered_mass_grave_in-a-32_1734396353160.jpg)
But speaking yesterday at a press conference in Westminster after meeting his Australian counterpart, he said he had not engaged with HTS directly but that a team had been dispatched to assist with the transition. He said: ‘I can confirm today that we have sent a delegation of senior UK officials to Damascus this week for meetings with the new interim Syrian authorities and members of civil society groups in Syria. And it underlines our commitment to Syria.’.
![[Syrian Air Force helicopters left destroyed by Israeli air strikes at Mezzeh Military Airport near Damascus]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/00/93214031-14199643-Syrian_Air_Force_helicopters_left_destroyed_by_Israeli_air_strik-a-29_1734396137162.jpg)
