US diplomats and hostage envoy make first visit to Syria

Syrian activists gather at the Umayyad square during a protest to demand a secular state, in Damascus on Thursday Omar Sanadiki/AP)

The first US diplomats to visit Syria since President Bashar Assad’s ousting earlier this month held talks with transitional officials in Damascus on Friday to press for an inclusive government and seek information on the whereabouts of missing American journalist Austin Tice.

The top American diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, former special envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein and the Biden administration’s chief envoy for hostage negotiations, Roger Carstens, met with interim leaders and members of civil society, officials said.