ISTANBUL (Dispatches) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Syria said Sunday that he met with self-appointed Syrian president Abu Muhammad al-Jolani I here and commended him for “taking meaningful steps” regarding extremist foreign fighters in his security forces and improving “relations with Israel.”
“I stressed the cessation of sanctions against Syria will preserve the integrity of our primary objective – the enduring defeat of ISIS (Daesh) – and will give the people of Syria a chance for a better future,” said Thomas Barrack, a special envoy to Syria and the current U.S. ambassador to Turkiye, in a statement.
The U.S. imposed crushing economic sanctions on Syria in 2011, making millions destitute, and has set several conditions for Damascus to meet before removing them.
“This meeting was historic, putting the issue of sanctions – as President Trump has indicated – far behind us, and resulting in joint commitment of both our countries to drive forward, quickly, with investment, development, and worldwide branding of a new, welcoming Syria without sanctions,” the U.S. envoy stressed.
“I also commended President Sharaa (Jolani) on taking meaningful steps towards enacting President Trump’s points on foreign terrorist fighters, counter-ISIS measures, relations with Israel, and camps and detention centers,” Barrack added.
The meeting between Barrack and Jolani, the de facto Syrian president and former Al-Qaeda leader, came a day after a report that leaders of Palestinian factions in Syria were forced to leave the country under pressure from authorities in Damascus.
The White House had demanded that Jolani crack down on and expel what it called Palestinian “terror groups” as a
 condition for the removal of Washington’s sanctions on Damascus.
In recent weeks, reports have emerged of backchannel negotiations between Israel and the new authorities in Damascus, who toppled former President Bashar al-Assad and took control of Syria in December.
There have also been numerous reports that Syria’s new authorities have held indirect talks with Israel on potential normalization between the two regimes. 
Israel provided covert support to Jolani and his group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), during the 14-year war that began in 2011 as part of the broader CIA effort to destroy the Syrian Army and state.
Jolani has faced criticism for the role of takfiri foreign fighters in his security forces that participated in the massacre of some 1,600 Alawite civilians in the coastal regions of the country in early March.
Foreign extremists who traveled to Syria to fight with HTS and Daesh against Assad have been rewarded by Jolani, including by providing them citizenship and top positions in his defense ministry.
Tens of thousands of foreign extremist fighters entered the country via Turkiye after 2011, with help from the U.S., UK, and Turkish intelligence, as part of the broader CIA-directed covert war to oust Assad.
The U.S. envoy met with Jolani while he was in Istanbul this weekend for an unannounced meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The foreign and defense ministers of both countries also participated in the meeting between Erdogan and Jolani, as did the head of Turkish intelligence.
On Saturday, a prominent Alawite Sheikh, Saleh Saud, was kidnapped in Tartous, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
Sheikh Saleh Saud is known for his active role in promoting civil peace and fostering dialogue among the various religious and social communities in Tartous province. A committed religious scholar, he holds a degree in Islamic studies.
Since the fall of Assad, extremist armed groups with links to Syria’s security forces have murdered large numbers of Alawite men and kidnapped many Alawite women, forcing them into sexual slavery.