Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – which took control of the country following a lightning offensive that overthrew it President Bashar al-Assad – remains proscribed in Britain but “as you would expect” the Government has spoken to the organisation.
It comes as the Foreign Office announced emergency support will be delivered to people in Syria through the UN and NGO agencies and to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan.
“For all of those reasons, using all the channels that we have available, and those are diplomatic and of course intelligence-led channels, we seek to deal with HTS where we have to.”
The announcement comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed Washington officials had been in direct contact with the group, which has been designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the State Department since 2018.
No one in the West has the right to lecture Syrians about celebrating
Read MoreThey agreed on the importance of a “non-sectarian and representative government”, protecting human rights, unfettered access for humanitarian aid, the safe destruction of chemical weapons, and combating terrorism.
Some £120,000 of UK funding has also? been made available to the Organisation of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the department said.
Its current leader Ahmad al-Sharaa has attempted to distance his movement from the terrorist group.
There is also concern that a power vacuum in Syria could exacerbate regional tensions and create conditions for the so-called Islamic State group to regain ground.
“We’re committed to supporting the Syrian people as they chart a new course, first by providing £50 million in new food, healthcare and aid to support the humanitarian needs of vulnerable Syrians. Second, by working diplomatically to help secure better governance in Syria’s future.
Sir Keir Starmer on Friday told a virtual meeting of the G7 leaders that “the fall of (Bashar) Assad’s brutal regime should be welcomed but we must be cautious about what comes next”.
Additional reporting by Press Association.
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