US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf and a team of diplomats will visit the Syrian capital Damascus “in the coming days” for talks with the Syrian interim government, the State Department said on Friday.

The delegation includes Presidential Envoy for Hostage Issues Roger Carstens and newly appointed Counsellor Daniel Rubenstein, who has been tasked with leading the State Department’s efforts in Syria.

The diplomats will meet with representatives of Tahrir al-Sham, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by Washington, and civil society to discuss their ‘vision for the future of their country’.

On 8 December, Syrian factions took control of the capital Damascus as regime forces retreated and Bashar al-Assad and his family fled to Russia, ending 61 years of Baath Party rule and 53 years of Assad family rule.