The United States lifted the reward for the capture of the leader of the armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Ahmed al-Sharaa, after he pledged not to allow terrorist factions that pose threats to the US and its neighboring countries to operate within Syria, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf told reporters on Friday.
"Based on our discussion, I told him we would not be pursuing the Rewards for Justice reward offer," she says. "We discussed the critical need to ensure that terrorist groups cannot pose a threat inside of Syria or externally, including to the US and our partners in the region. Ahmad al-Sharaa committed to this."
Previously, the FBI had announced a reward of up to $10 million for any information that could lead to al-Sharaa's capture, known by his alias Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, pointing to his swearing of allegiance to Al-Qaeda.
