Syria agrees to help find missing Americans, U.S. envoy says

CBS News

25-05-2025

The new Syrian government has agreed to help the United States locate and return Americans who went missing in the war-ravaged country, the U.S. special envoy to Syria said on Sunday, in another sign of thawing bilateral ties between the two countries.
Thomas Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey who was also appointed as special envoy for Syria, described in a post on X that it was a "power step forward" between the two nations.
"The families of Austin Tice, Majd Kamalmaz, and Kayla Mueller must have closure," he added, referring to American citizens who had gone missing or been killed in Syria during the devastating civil war that erupted in 2011.
"President Trump has made it clear that bringing home USA citizens or honoring, with dignity, their remains is a major priority everywhere," Barrack said. "The new Syrian Government will aid us in this commitment."
A Syrian source with knowledge of the talks between the two countries told AFP that there were 11 other names on Washington's list of missing Americans. All of them are Syrian American.
Syrian President Ahmed Sharaa (C) meets the U.S. Ambassador Thomas Barrack, Jr. (L) in Istanbul, Turkiye on May 24, 2025. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani (R) also attended.
Turkish Foreign Ministry / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
The announcement comes after Barrack met with Syria's president and foreign minister during their visit to Turkey on Saturday. It also comes as relations between the two nations have steadily improved since former President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December.
On Friday, the Trump administration granted Syria sweeping exemptions from sanctions in a major first step toward fulfilling the president's pledge to lift a half-century of penalties on a country shattered by 14 years of civil war.
In a statement on Saturday, Barrack said Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa welcomed Washington's "fast action on lifting sanctions."
"President Trump's goal is to enable the new government to create the conditions for the Syrian people to not only survive but thrive," Barrack said in a statement.
Barrack said he stressed that the cessation of sanctions against Syria will preserve the integrity "of our primary objective — the enduring defeat of" the Islamic State group, also known as IS or ISIS. He added that it will give Syrians a chance for a better future.
"I also commended President al-Sharaa 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 in Northeast Syria," Barrack said. He was referring to detention centers where thousands of ISIS members are held and two camps where their families stay in areas currently controlled by the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
The congressional sanctions, known as the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, had aimed to isolate Syria's previous rulers by effectively expelling those doing business with them from the global financial system. They specifically block postwar reconstruction, so while they can be waived for 180 days by executive order, investors are likely to be wary of reconstruction projects when sanctions could be reinstated after six months.
Mr. Trump said during a visit to the region earlier this month that the U.S. would roll back the heavy financial penalties in a bid to give the interim government a better chance of survival.
contributed to this report.