A high-level American delegation visited Idleb province in northwestern Syria, including senior officials from the Trump administration, led by the United States representative to the Security Council, Kelly Craft; and the American envoy to Syria, James Jeffrey.
Craft announced the visit on Tuesday, using her Twitter account, publishing photos of her entering Syrian territory through Turkey and meeting members of the Syrian Civil Defense (White Helmets) to review relief operations.
Craft and Jeffrey also met with United Nations Humanitarian and Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock, on the Syrian-Turkish border, to observe the progress of the humanitarian response to crises in Idleb, she said.
Craft added that her country has allocated 108 million dollars for humanitarian and relief support in Syria and called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities in this regard.
Regarding the visit, Craft said that she came with the American delegation to Idleb on behalf of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who assigned her this task, expressing her happiness to meet Civil Defense volunteers, saying: “They are ordinary people doing extraordinary things to save the lives of the victims of Assad’s brutality.”
The American envoy called on Turkey to keep the Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salama crossings open to humanitarian assistance, supervised by the United Nations, noting that the meetings with the Turks in this regard had been positive.
This is the first visit of its kind by American officials to Idleb since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011, and it came in the context of an American delegation to Turkey to discuss the rapid developments in Idleb.
An American delegation arrived in the Turkish capital, Ankara, to hold meetings with Turkish officials and discuss the latest developments in Syria, according to the Anadolu news agency. It included Trump’s special envoy to Syria, James Jeffrey, and the representative of the United States of America at the United Nations, Kelly Craft. The two sides discussed the humanitarian crisis taking place in Idleb as a result of the attacks of the Syrian regime.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
