BEIRUT — Three members of the U.S. Congress made a brief visit Sunday to opposition-held northwest Syria in what was the first known trip to the war-torn country by American lawmakers in six years.
U.S. Reps. Ben Cline of Virginia, French Hill of Arkansas and Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin, all Republicans, entered Syria from Turkey via the Bab al-Salama crossing in northern Aleppo province, according to two people familiar with the trip. They were not authorized to publicly discuss the trip and spoke on condition of anonymity after the U.S. delegation had left Syria.
Crossing into opposition-held Syria on what would be a roughly one-hour trip, the lawmakers were presented with flowers from students from Wisdom House. The facility is a school for orphans that is a project of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a U.S.-based Syrian opposition organization that facilitated the lawmakers’ trip.
Hill has been one of the most outspoken advocates in Congress for the Syrian opposition, and his constituents from Arkansas have generously contributed to the school.
The lawmakers also met with opposition and humanitarian leaders, including Raed Saleh, head of the Syrian opposition’s White Helmets emergency rescue group. The organization of volunteer first responders became known internationally for extracting civilians from buildings bombed by allied Russian forces fighting on behalf Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The United Nations says 300,000 civilians have died in the first 10 years of conflict between Assad-allied forces and Syria’s opposition.
Saleh discussed the ongoing political situation of the Syrian conflict and the ongoing efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the victims of a recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria during his conversation with the legislators, as reported by the White Helmets on X, the platform previously referred to as Twitter.
The last known trip by a U.S. lawmaker to Syria was in 2017, when Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., visited U.S. forces stationed in northeast Syria’s Kurdish region. McCain had previously visited Syria and met with armed opposition fighters.
In 2017, Representative Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, who belongs to the Democratic party, traveled to Damascus, the capital city, and had a meeting with Assad. This choice received significant criticism during that period.
Since the beginning of the 2011 uprising-turned-civil-war in Syria, the U.S. government has backed the opposition and has imposed sanctions on Assad’s government and associates over human rights concerns. Washington has conditioned restoring relations with Damascus on progress toward a political solution to the 12-year conflict.
The Turkish-supported opposition groups and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham have divided control over northwest Syria. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, initially formed as a branch of al-Qaida and recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States, has made efforts in recent times to publicly separate itself from its al-Qaida roots.
The opposition groups supported by Turkey have frequently engaged in conflicts with Kurdish forces located in northeast Syria. These Kurdish forces are allied with the United States in the battle against the Islamic State.
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Knickmeyer reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Omar Albam in Idlib, Syria contributed to this report.
