Khalilzad to the Taliban: Learn from Syria’s New Leaders How to Join the International System
Bayan News – Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. envoy for peace in Afghanistan, has suggested that the interim government should learn from Ahmad Shar’a, the leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, how to integrate into the international system.
In the early hours of Saturday, December 21, Khalilzad highlighted on the platform X the U.S. decision to cancel the $10 million bounty on Ahmad Shar’a.
The former U.S. envoy for peace in Afghanistan wrote: “Others in similar circumstances can learn from Ahmad Shar’a how to join the mainstream of the international system. Are the Taliban paying attention?”
This comes after Barbara Leaf, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, announced following a diplomatic meeting with the leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham in Syria that Washington had decided to cancel the reward previously offered for the capture of Ahmad Shar’a.
During her visit to Damascus, the U.S. official added that the leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham had committed to preventing terrorist groups from operating in Syria and posing a threat to the United States or neighboring countries.
