A senior US diplomat told Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday that Washington was scrapping a reward for his arrest as she welcomed "positive messages" from their talks, including a promise to fight terrorism.
Barbara Leaf, part of the first formal visit by US diplomats to Damascus since the early days of the brutal civil war, said she told Sharaa of the "critical need to ensure terrorist groups cannot pose a threat inside of Syria or externally, including to the US and our partners in the region."
"Ahmed al-Sharaa committed to this," Leaf told reporters after the meeting in Damascus.
"Based on our discussion, I told him we would not be pursuing the Rewards for Justice reward offer," she said.
Sharaa and his rebels, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, remain on Washington's terror blacklist. Leaf did not comment on the designation but said that after her discussions with Sharaa, "it's a little incoherent, then, to have a bounty on the guy's head."
Sharaa has spoken of inclusion and disbanding rebel factions. Leaf said she reinforced "the importance of inclusion and broad consultation during this time of transition."
"We fully support a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process that results in an inclusive and representative government which respects the rights of all Syrians, including women, and Syria's diverse ethnic and religious communities."
Assad, a largely secular leader from the Alawite minority, was the main Arab ally of Iran's Shiite cleric-run state, which has faced a slew of setbacks at the hands of Israel.
Asked about Iran's future role in Syria, Leaf said, "If I'm to judge by today, Iran will have no role whatsoever -- and it shouldn't, frankly."
Iran, with its deployment of Revolutionary Guards and Lebanese militia Hezbollah, "really preyed upon and really viciously brutalized the Syrian people," she said.
US diplomats have not been to Damascus on a formal mission since the early days of the civil war that erupted after Assad cracked down on anti-government protests in 2011.
The delegation would also meet with activists, minority groups and civil society representatives, the State Department said.
The group includes Barbara Leaf, the top State Department official for the Middle East, as well as the US point man on hostages, who has been seeking clues on missing Americans including Austin Tice, a journalist who was kidnapped in Syria in August 2012.
Their visit follows a statement by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, revealing direct contact with HTS.
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Kurdish fears
At talks in Aqaba, Jordan, Western, Arab and Turkish powers jointly called for an "inclusive, non-sectarian and representative government" that respects the rights of all of Syria's diverse communities.
This was echoed in Cairo by Turkey and Iran, which supported different sides in the war.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who backed Assad's opponents, stressed reconciliation and restoration of Syria's territorial integrity and unity.
Turkey has been putting pressure on Kurdish-led forces in Syria, and Erdogan said Friday it was time to destroy "terrorist" groups operating in the country, namely Islamic State group jihadists and Kurdish fighters.
"Daesh, the PKK and their affiliates -- which threaten the survival of Syria -- must be eradicated," he told journalists following the Cairo summit, referring to IS and the Kurdistan Workers Party, respectively.
The semiautonomous northeastern region of Syria is protected by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a group led by People's Protection Units (YPG).
Turkey accuses the YPG of being a branch of the PKK, which both Washington and Ankara consider a terrorist group.
Kurdish leaders in Syria have welcomed Assad's ouster and raised the three-star independence-era rebel flag, but many in the region fear continued attacks by Turkey and allied fighters.
Several thousand people chanted "The Syrian people are one", and "No to war in our region, no to Turkey's attack" at Thursday's demonstration in Qamishli.
Read moreThousands take to the streets in northeast Syria in support of Kurdish-led force
'No to religious rule'
In Damascus, demonstrators chanted "No to religious rule", and "We want a democracy, not a religious state."
This came after a spokesman for the interim government said "female representation in ministries or parliament... is premature", citing "biological" and other considerations.
Majida Mudarres, a retired civil servant, expressed anger at the comments.
"Women have a big role in political life," the 50-year-old.
"We will be observing any position against women and will not accept it. The time in which we were silent is over."
Amy Pope, the head of the UN's migration agency, on Friday urged "the caretaker government to continue to empower and enable women, because they are going to be absolutely critical to the rebuilding of the country".
Pope also called for the raft of international sanctions on Syria to be reassessed to help the country regain its footing.
Syria's civil war killed more than 500,000 people and sparked an exodus of millions of refugees.
Since Assad's departure, which sparked celebrations at home and abroad, rebels have thrown open prisons where tens of thousands of people were arbitrarily detained and tortured.
They have also located mass graves believed to hold some of the estimated 100,000 people who died or were killed in custody since 2011.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)