A senior US official met Syria’s national security chief in Damascus this week in the highest ranking visit to Syria by a US official since the start of the war in 2011, a senior regional official close to Damascus told Reuters on Friday.
The Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar first reported the visit earlier on Friday, saying that the US official discussed security matters including Americans missing in Syria. Among them are operatives of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The regional official did not name the US official who met Ali Mamlouk, Syria’s national security chief. “It is an important step, but Damascus does not have confidence in the American position,” the regional official said.
The US official travelled to Damascus via Lebanon.
The United States has supported the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian war. It has provided anti-Assad rebels with weapons via a CIA-run military aid program that President Donald Trump ordered shut down earlier this year.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last week reiterated the US position that Assad should leave power, saying the “reign of the Assad family is coming to an end” and “the only issue is how that should be brought about”.
With military backing from Russia and Iran, Assad has recovered control of swathes of lost Syrian territory over the last two years and appears militarily unassailable.
US forces have been fighting in Syria as part of the coalition against ISIS, helping Kurdish-led militias capture Raqqa and other parts of northern and eastern Syria.
During the meeting, Mamlouk protested to the US official that US forces “are on Syrian land and this is considered occupation”, the regional official said. The US official responded that “our presence is advisory and we are fighting Daesh”, the regional official added, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.
Syrian government officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

US official met Syrian security chief in Damascus

Ali Mamlouk, Syria’s national security chief reportedly met a US security official. (Supplied)
Reuters, Beirut
Friday 03 November 2017
Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:51 - GMT 06:51
DAY | WEEK |
-
7960 Views Full moon to align directly above Kaaba in Mecca on Jan. 28
-
7489 Views Coronavirus: Dubai restaurants offer discounts for vaccinated diners
-
4545 Views Coronavirus: Entertainers, hopsitals react to Dubai’s new restrictions
-
1587 Views Britain, France and Germany ‘strongly condemn’ air attack on Saudi Arabia
-
1539 Views Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia to get AstraZeneca shots in about a week from India
-
1409 Views Iran executes second wrestler months after executing champion wrestler Navid Afkari
-
23489 Views Coronavirus: Dubai temporarily postpones Pfizer vaccine campaign amid global shortage
-
18737 Views Saudi Arabia’s PIF to invest 3 trillion riyals over next 10 years: Crown Prince
-
10992 Views Coronavirus: Dubai orders hospitals to cancel surgeries amid surge in COVID-19 cases
-
9428 Views The American University of Beirut’s battle for survival
-
8298 Views Coronavirus: Dubai suspends live entertainment permits as COVID-19 cases surge
-
8086 Views Coronavirus: Dubai's latest COVID-19 rules for weddings, restaurants, gyms, concerts
SHOW MORE