TEHRAN - The United States and its European allies are mulling whether to lift “terrorist” designations for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which overthrew the Syrian government along with its allies earlier this month. 

HTS has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and the UK. 

The HTS rebel group is an offshoot of Al-Qaeda and ISIL but has ostensibly distanced itself from them. Previously referred to as Nusra Front, the group rebranded itself as HTS in 2017 to alter public perception regarding its past actions. Despite that, the United States blacklisted HTS in 2018. But reports suggest that the US is considering removing HTS from its terrorist list.

On Friday, a senior US official announced that her country is dropping a reward for the arrest of HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, previously known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

The announcement was made by Assistant Secretary of State Barbara Leaf, who is the top State Department official for the Middle East (West Asia). Leaf is leading an American delegation which has traveled to Syria to hold talks with Syrian new leaders in the wake of Assad’s fall. 

Leaf said the decision to remove the $10 million bounty on the HTS chief came after meetings between American diplomats and the rebel group in Damascus in which al-Jolani committed to ensuring terrorist organizations in Syria do not pose a threat to the United States.   

The US delegation’s visit follows trips by diplomats from Britain, France, and Germany to Damascus over the past days. 
Undoubtedly, the West’s approach to hold talks with Syria’s transitional government and al-Jolani, who is the Arab nation’s de facto leader, is a positive step. 

The US has scrapped a $10 million reward for the arrest of Syria's de facto leader al-Jolani who has been designated as a terrorist by the State Department. But it is evident that under the façade of negotiations Western countries, in particular the United States, are advancing their own interests.  

Since toppling Assad on December 8, the leader of HTS has sought to project an image of moderation of his group, distinguishing it from the behaviors associated with Al-Qaeda and ISIL (also referred to as ISIS and Daesh).

Nonetheless, at least the United States is following a good cop and bad cop scenario through paradoxical political and military methods. 

On the one hand, Washington has vowed to remove the sanctions it imposed on Syria under the Assad government and lift the terrorist designation of the HTS if it meets certain demands. 

On the other hand, the US is increasing its military presence in Syria. The Pentagon spokesperson has said that the US has more than doubled its troop presence in Syria.  

“We have been briefing you regularly that there are approximately 900 US troops deployed to Syria. In light of the situation in Syria and the significant interest, we recently learned that those numbers were higher,” Pat Ryder told reporters on Thursday.

He added, “So, asked to look into it, I learned today that, in fact, there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria.”

Ryder’s comments indicate that the US seeks to keep troops in Syria despite its charm offensive towards HTS. 

On Friday, the US military also said it killed ISIL leader Abu Yusif, also known as Mahmud, in an airstrike in the eastern Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor.

For now, in addition to adopting a good cop and bad cop policy, the US is also making a mockery of its own laws pertaining to terrorism. 

In less than three weeks since HTS took over Damascus, it appears that the group and its leader are becoming good terrorists for the United States.  While ISIL and Al-Qaeda still remain bad terrorist groups. 

The US has no problem with terrorists as long as they dance to Washington’s tune. 

The US remains accused of aiding and abetting ISIL and Al-Qaeda when the terror groups committed atrocities in the areas that they had occupied. The American military, however, launched war on them when they began to spin out of its control. 

Syria's emerging leadership and HTS are no different. Provided they align with US interests, Americans are likely to overlook their past violent actions and transgressions.