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A4 U.S. NEWS
Monday 28 august 2023
Members of US Congress make a rare visit to opposition-held

northwest Syria

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and of first responders known Hill said he had engaged
ABBY SEWELL for extracting civilians from Middle East governments
Associated Press buildings flattened by repeatedly over the past
BEIRUT (AP) — Three Repub- bombing. three months about "what
lican members of the U.S. Saleh spoke with the law- are the ramifications of the
Congress made a quick makers about the political Arab League's admission of
trip Sunday into opposition- status of the conflict in Syria Syria back to the League
held northwest Syria in the and on continuing humani- and yet asking nothing" of
first known visit to the war- tarian efforts for victims of Assad in return in terms of
torn country by American a earthquake earlier this greater political freedoms
lawmakers in six years. They year in Turkey and Syria, and an end to rights abus-
urged the Biden administra- the White Helmets said on es.
tion and regional partners X, the site formerly known Hill also is pushing for the
to keep up the pressure as Twitter. U.S. and Arab countries
on Syrian President Bashar Security concerns meant to press Assad harder on
Assad. there was no public an- Syria's status as the world's
The roughly one-hour stop nouncement of the trip be- leading global trafficker of
was a signal of the signifi- FILE - Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., speaks during a Republican Study forehand. Hill spoke from Captagon, a highly addic-
cant support on Capitol Hill Committee news conference on the FY2024 budget, Wednesday, neighboring Turkey, where tive amphetamine.
for the opposition in Syria's June 14, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Three U.S. Congress the congressmen also held Congress late last year
long civil war. members, including Cline, made a brief visit to opposition-held a series of meetings. passed a mandate for the
U.S. Rep. French Hill of Ar- northwest Syria on Sunday, Aug. 27, the first known trip to the The last-known trip by a U.S. to target Captagon
war-torn country by American lawmakers in six years.
kansas, one of the three (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File) U.S. lawmaker to Syria was smuggling in the Middle
lawmakers, told The Associ- in 2017, when Sen. John East, and President Joe
ated Press by telephone af- McCain, R-Ariz., visited U.S. Biden signed it into law.
ter leaving Syria that the trip forces stationed in north- Hill accused Biden of not
was the latest of his several east Syria's Kurdish region. doing enough to pressure
to the region this summer to McCain had previously Assad to adopt political re-
press the U.S. government visited Syria and met with forms and stop the flow of
and Arab allies to continue armed opposition fighters. that illegal drug, an impor-
pushing for a political reso- Also in 2017, U.S. Rep. Tulsi tant source of revenue for
lution to the war. Gabbard, D-Hawaii, visited the Assad government.
Hill said his message was Damascus, the capital, "What I believe Syria needs,
in behalf of "those in Syria and met with Assad, a de- and the same thing the U.S.
who want to have their cision that was widely criti- needs, is American leader-
own representative gov- cized at the time. ship, Hill said.
ernment." Since the beginning of the Neither the State Depart-
The conflict began in 2011 uprising-turned-civil-war in ment nor the White House
after Assad launched a Syria, the U.S. government had immediate comment
campaign to crush what has backed the opposition on the Republican law-
began as a peaceful up- FILE - Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., nominates Rep. Kevin McCarthy, and has imposed sanctions makers' trip.
rising against his family's R-Calif., for the eleventh time in the House chamber as the on Assad's government Control of northwest Syria
autocratic rule. Assad has House meets for the third day to elect a speaker and convene and associates over hu- is largely split between the
held on to power despite the 118th Congress in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. Three man rights concerns. Wash- Turkish-backed opposition
the uprising thanks in large U.S. Congress members, including Hill, made a brief visit to ington has conditioned groups and Hayat Tahrir
part to the armed interven- opposition-held northwest Syria on Sunday, Aug. 27, the first restoring relations with Da- al-Sham, a group that was
known trip to the war-torn country by American lawmakers in
tion by allies Russia and six years. mascus on progress toward originally founded as an
Iran. But the conflict has (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) a political solution to the offshoot of al-Qaida and
splintered the country, 12-year conflict. is designated as a terrorist
killed at least 300,000 civil- A growing number of Arab organization by the United
ians, and displaced half of ers, Ben Cline of Virginia who'd been murdered by leaders are moving to end States. In recent years, the
Syria's prewar population of and Scott Fitzgerald of Wis- Assad's regime, getting a their own isolation of Assad, group's leadership have
23 million. consin, entered Syria early hug and a kiss from them," in line with arguments that attempted to publicly dis-
The trip comes at a time Sunday from Turkey via the he said. engagement is the best tance themselves from
that Middle East leaders Bab al-Salama crossing in The children were students way to address the flow their al-Qaida origins.
have begun restoring re- northern Aleppo province. at Wisdom House, a school of refugees, illegal drugs The Turkish-backed opposi-
lations with Assad's gov- They were greeted by or- for orphans that is a project and other problems for tion groups have regularly
ernment. By doing so, the phans who attend Wisdom of the Syrian Emergency the region from Syria. The clashed with Kurdish forces
Arab leaders are breaking House, a school for orphans Task Force, a U.S.-based 22-member Arab League based in northeast Syria,
sharply from the U.S., which that is a project of the Syr- Syrian opposition organi- recently reinstated Syria as who are allies of the United
is pushing to keep Assad ian Emergency Task Force, zation that facilitated the a member after cutting ties States in the fight against
isolated over government a U.S.-based Syrian opposi- lawmakers' trip. Hill's con- earlier in the Syrian war. the Islamic State.q
abuses that the United Na- tion organization that facili- stituents in Arkansas have
tions says include repeated tated the lawmakers' trip. been leading donors to the
use of chemical weapons Hill's constituents in Arkan- school.
against Syrian civilians. sas have been leading do- The lawmakers met with
The U.N says 300,000 Syrian nors to the school. "It was opposition and humanitar-
civilians died in the first 10 an emotional day for me to ian leaders, including Raed
years of the conflict. see those children, holding Saleh, head of the White
Hill and his fellow lawmak- up pictures of their parents Helmets, a volunteer group