Six sources familiar with the subject told Reuters the United States has given Syria a list of requirements it wants Damascus to meet in exchange for partial sanctions relaxation, including ensuring foreigners are not in top governing posts.
Two of the people, a US official and a Syrian source familiar with the matter, said that US Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Levant and Syria Natasha Franceschi presented the list of demands to Syrian foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani at an in-person meeting on the sidelines of a Syria donor conference in Brussels on March 18.
Among the requirements imposed by the United States are cooperation on counter-terrorism and Syria’s elimination of any last chemical weapon supplies; the two US officials, the Syrian source and both Washington-based sources, stated. Another priority was ensuring that foreign fighters—the US officials and one of the individuals in Washington said—are not positioned in important roles in Syria’s government.
Alarming international countries, Syria has already assigned some foreign ex-rebels, including Uyghurs, a Jordanian and a Turk, to its defense ministry. According to the two US officials and both sources in Washington, Washington also urged Syria to designate a liaison to help US efforts to locate Austin Tice, the US journalist who vanished from Syria over ten years ago.
Washington would offer partial sanctions relief in return for meeting all the requirements, the six individuals added. One particular measure would be maybe the issuing of another exemption and a two-year extension of an existing exemption for transactions with Syrian ruling authorities. According to the source, the US would also say something endorsing Syria’s geographical integrity.
