CNN —The United States has removed the long-standing $10 million bounty on the de-facto leader of Syria following a high-level US delegation meeting with the former jihadist Friday. Leaf said al-Sharaa “came across as pragmatic” and described their meeting in Damascus as “quite good, very productive, detailed.” Another source familiar with the meeting said it lasted just under two hours. Leaf, Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens and NEA Senior Adviser Daniel Rubinstein were the first US officials to travel to Syria following the collapse of the Syrian government less than two weeks ago. The US had been in direct contact with HTS on these matters and had received a commitment to help find Tice, an American journalist detained in Syria more than a decade ago. The US also hopes to find more information about the fate of other Americans who disappeared, like Majd Kamalmaz.

---

Persons: Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, Ahmad al, Sharaa “, Leaf, ”, Abu Mohammad al, ” Leaf, “ We’ve, “, Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, Daniel Rubinstein, Tice, Carstens, Austin Tice, we’ve, it’ll, ” Carstens Organizations: CNN, State, Near Eastern Affairs, Hostage Affairs, NEA, FBI Locations: United States, Syria, Sharaa, Damascus, American