Current:Home > InvestMembers of US Congress make a rare visit to opposition-held northwest Syria-InfoLens
Members of US Congress make a rare visit to opposition-held northwest Syria
View Date:2024-12-23 11:10:48
BEIRUT (AP) — Three members of the U.S. Congress made a brief visit Sunday to opposition-held northwest Syria in what was the first known trip to the war-torn country by American lawmakers in six years.
U.S. Reps. Ben Cline of Virginia, French Hill of Arkansas and Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin, all Republicans, entered Syria from Turkey via the Bab al-Salama crossing in northern Aleppo province, according to two people familiar with the trip. They were not authorized to publicly discuss the trip and spoke on condition of anonymity after the U.S. delegation had left Syria.
Crossing into opposition-held Syria on what would be a roughly one-hour trip, the lawmakers were presented with flowers from students from Wisdom House. The facility is a school for orphans that is a project of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a U.S.-based Syrian opposition organization that facilitated the lawmakers’ trip.
Hill has been among the most vocal supporters in Congress of the Syrian opposition and his Arkansas constituents have been donors to the school.
The lawmakers also met with opposition and humanitarian leaders, including Raed Saleh, head of the Syrian opposition’s White Helmets emergency rescue group. The organization of volunteer first responders became known internationally for extracting civilians from buildings bombed by allied Russian forces fighting on behalf Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The United Nations says 300,000 civilians have died in the first 10 years of conflict between Assad-allied forces and Syria’s opposition.
Saleh spoke with the lawmakers about the current political status of the conflict in Syria and on continuing humanitarian efforts for victims of a earthquake earlier this year in Turkey and Syria, the White Helmets said on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.
The last known trip by a U.S. lawmaker to Syria was in 2017, when Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., visited U.S. forces stationed in northeast Syria’s Kurdish region. McCain had previously visited Syria and met with armed opposition fighters.
Also in 2017, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, visited Damascus, the capital, and met with Assad, a decision that was widely criticized at the time.
Since the beginning of the 2011 uprising-turned-civil-war in Syria, the U.S. government has backed the opposition and has imposed sanctions on Assad’s government and associates over human rights concerns. Washington has conditioned restoring relations with Damascus on progress toward a political solution to the 12-year conflict.
Control of northwest Syria is largely split between the Turkish-backed opposition groups and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group that was originally founded as an offshoot of al-Qaida and is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. In recent years, the group’s leadership have attempted to publicly distance themselves from their al-Qaida origins.
The Turkish-backed opposition groups have regularly clashed with Kurdish forces based in northeast Syria, who are allies of the United States in the fight against the Islamic State.
___
Knickmeyer reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Omar Albam in Idlib, Syria contributed to this report.
veryGood! (7769)
Related
- The Best Corduroy Pants Deals from J.Crew Outlet, Old Navy, Levi’s & More, Starting at $26
- 'Keep it going': Leading ALCS, Rangers get Max Scherzer return for Game 3 vs. Astros
- Raquel Leviss Raised a Surprising Amount of Money From Scandoval Necklace & Hoodie
- A man’s death is under investigation after his body was mistaken for a training dummy, police say
- Francesca Farago Details Health Complications That Led to Emergency C-Section of Twins
- 4,000-year-old rock with mysterious markings becomes a treasure map for archaeologists
- A rare book by Karl Marx is found in CVS bag. Could its value reach six figures?
- Charity Lawson Reveals How Fiancé Dotun Olubeko Is Supporting Her DWTS Journey
- My Little Pony finally hits the Toy Hall of Fame, alongside Phase 10 and Transformers
- Amazon is testing drones to deliver your medications in an hour or less
Ranking
- Horoscopes Today, November 10, 2024
- Britney Spears memoir reaches bestseller status a week before it hits shelves
- Coastal county and groups sue to overturn federal approval of New Jersey’s 1st offshore wind farm
- Sophia Bush's Ex Grant Hughes Supportive of Her Amid Ashlyn Harris Relationship
- Atmospheric river to bring heavy snow, rain to Northwest this week
- Execution of Idaho’s longest-serving death row inmate delayed for sentence review hearing
- Thrift store chain case was no bargain for Washington attorney general; legal fees top $4.2 million
- Alex Rodriguez Shares Hot Take on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's Romance
Recommendation
-
Satire publication The Onion buys Alex Jones’ Infowars at auction with help from Sandy Hook families
-
Fear, frustration for Israeli family as 7 believed to be held by Hamas
-
Two Kansas prison employees fired, six disciplined, after injured inmate was mocked
-
Another Republican enters North Carolina’s campaign for governor, preparing to spend millions
-
Police cruiser strikes and kills a bicyclist pulling a trailer in Vermont
-
Prosecutors seeking to recharge Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting on Rust movie set
-
Activists turn backs on US officials as UN-backed human rights review of United States wraps up
-
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake in Northern California triggers ShakeAlert in Bay Area