Syria agrees to help find missing Americans, U.S. envoy says

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The caller Syrian authorities has agreed to assistance the United States find and instrumentality Americans who went missing successful the war-ravaged country, the U.S. peculiar envoy to Syria said connected Sunday, successful different motion of thawing bilateral ties betwixt the 2 countries.

Thomas Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey who was besides appointed arsenic peculiar envoy for Syria, described successful a post connected X that it was a "power measurement forward" betwixt the 2 nations.

"The families of Austin Tice, Majd Kamalmaz, and Kayla Mueller indispensable person closure," helium added, referring to American citizens who had gone missing oregon been killed successful Syria during the devastating civilian warfare that erupted successful 2011.

"President Trump has made it wide that bringing location USA citizens oregon honoring, with dignity, their remains is simply a large precedence everywhere," Barrack said. "The caller Syrian Government volition assistance america successful this commitment."

A Syrian root with cognition of the talks betwixt the 2 countries told AFP that determination were 11 different names connected Washington's database of missing Americans. All of them are Syrian American.

Ahmed Sharaa - Thomas Joseph Barrack, Jr. gathering successful Istanbul

The announcement comes aft Barrack met with Syria's president and overseas curate during their sojourn to Turkey connected Saturday. It besides comes arsenic relations betwixt the 2 nations person steadily improved since erstwhile President Bashar al-Assad was ousted successful December.

On Friday, the Trump medication granted Syria sweeping exemptions from sanctions successful a large archetypal measurement toward fulfilling the president's pledge to assistance a half-century of penalties connected a state shattered by 14 years of civilian war.

In a connection connected Saturday, Barrack said Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa welcomed Washington's "fast enactment connected lifting sanctions."

"President Trump's extremity is to alteration the caller authorities to make the conditions for the Syrian radical to not lone past but thrive," Barrack said successful a statement.

Barrack said helium stressed that the cessation of sanctions against Syria volition sphere the integrity "of our superior nonsubjective — the enduring decision of" the Islamic State group, besides known arsenic IS oregon ISIS. He added that it volition springiness Syrians a accidental for a amended future.

"I besides commended President al-Sharaa connected taking meaningful steps towards enacting President Trump's points connected overseas violent fighters, counter-ISIS measures, relations with Israel, and camps and detention centers successful Northeast Syria," Barrack said. He was referring to detention centers wherever thousands of ISIS members are held and 2 camps wherever their families enactment successful areas presently controlled by the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

The legislature sanctions, known arsenic the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, had aimed to isolate Syria's erstwhile rulers by efficaciously expelling those doing concern with them from the planetary fiscal system. They specifically artifact postwar reconstruction, truthful portion they tin beryllium waived for 180 days by enforcement order, investors are apt to beryllium wary of reconstruction projects erstwhile sanctions could beryllium reinstated aft six months.

Mr. Trump said during a sojourn to the region earlier this period that the U.S. would rotation backmost the dense fiscal penalties successful a bid to springiness the interim authorities a amended accidental of survival.