White House official takes rare trip to Syria to help release Americans held by Damascus

The paper carried the report on Sunday, citing officials with the administration of US President Donald Trump and others familiar with the reported negotiations.

The secret talks between Kash Patel, a deputy assistant to Trump, and officials with the Syrian government took place in Damascus, administration officials told the Journal.

It called the trip the first one to be made by such a high-level US official to Syria in more than a decade, alleging that while in Syria, the official met with Syrian authorities in the Arab country’s capital.

The purported talks, the Journal said, was expected to help release Austin Tice and Majd Kamalmaz.

The daily said Tice was what it called a “freelance journalist” and former Marine officer and Kamalmaz, a Syrian-American “therapist.”

Observers say notwithstanding the titles that American officials and sources assign to the US nationals -- who strangely happen to be present in conflict zones at critical junctures -- many are later found to be on the payroll of Washington’s military or intelligence apparatus and tasked with sabotage.

These have included the White Helmets, a Western-backed so-called aid group active in Syria that is blamed by Damascus and its ally Russia for staging false flag chemical attacks inside the Arab country to justify foreign intervention.

On Sunday, Reuters cited a Trump administration official as confirming the Journal’s report.

At least four other Americans are believed to be held by the Syrian government, the newspaper reported.

The Journal reported that Trump wrote Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a private letter in March, proposing a “direct dialog” about Tice.

According to the US daily, the reported talks have, however, not advanced far, with Damascus pressing Washington to withdraw all its forces from the Syrian soil.

The US and its allies invaded Syria in 2014 under the pretext of fighting Daesh. The military presence continues to date, although Damascus and the countries supporting it defeated the Takfiri terrorist outfit in late 2017.

The US-led presence has witnessed military build-up around Syria’s strategic areas, including the hugely sensitive al-Tanf border zone, where the Syrian, Iraqi and Jordanian borders meet. The American forces have also deployed surprising numbers in the Arab country’s oil-rich east, prompting Damascus to decry the Trump administration’s attempt at expropriating Syria’s crude resources.

Source: Press Tv