U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Iraq on Friday after Syria-focused talks with his counterpart in Turkey. Blinken met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad, after flying from Ankara on a C-17 U.S. Air Force plane. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Blinken “underscored the U.S. commitment to the U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership and to Iraq’s security, stability and sovereignty.” “The secretary reaffirmed the United States’ support for a Syrian-led political process resulting in an inclusive and representative civilian government,” said Miller in a statement. “He emphasized that the transition process and resulting government must uphold clear commitments to respect the human rights of the Syrian people, including women and members of minority communities, and all of Syria’s religious and holy sites.” During talks with Iraq’s prime minister, Blinken also “emphasized the need to facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance, and to prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors.” The two also discussed “continuing efforts to prevent ISIS from resurging and destabilizing the broader region.” ISIS is an acronym for the Islamic State terror group. Talks in Turkey Earlier on Friday, the secretary of state met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Turkey’s capital, where Blinken called for an interim Syrian government “that is inclusive and nonsectarian, one that protects the rights of minorities and women, one that preserves institutions of the state and delivers services to the people.” Blinken said both countries would like to see the interim Syrian government find and appropriately destroy chemical weapons left over from former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. He said he does not want Syria to pose a threat to its neighbors and wants the interim leadership to reject any alliances with extremist groups, particularly Islamic State. “Our countries worked very hard and gave a lot over many years to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate,” Blinken said. He added there is “a basis to ensure that that threat doesn’t rear its head again. And it’s imperative that we keep at it, keep up those efforts.” Blinken met with Fidan on the second leg of his Middle East tour, which was triggered by the ouster of Assad’s regime in a lightning offensive spearheaded by Islamist-led HTS rebels, ending 54 years of the Assad family’s repressive rule. On Thursday, the secretary of state met with Turkish President Recep Erdogan. Blinken was also in Jordan Thursday where he met with King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein and Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi. He told reporters following those talks in Aqaba, Jordan, that the sides are working to coordinate regional efforts “to support the Syrian people as they transition away from Assad’s brutal dictatorship.” American rescued Blinken also discussed 29–year-old Travis Timmerman, a missing American who turned up in Syria Thursday. Timmerman was among thousands of people released by rebels from Syria’s notorious prisons last weekend as the rebels swept toward the capital, Damascus, and overthrew Assad. Timmerman was initially mistaken by some for Austin Tice, an American journalist who went missing in Syria 12 years ago and has yet to be found after the rebel takeover and Assad’s flight to asylum in Russia. In a video, Timmerman was seen lying on a mattress under a blanket in what appeared to be a private house. A group of men in the video said that he was being treated well and would be safely returned home. It was not immediately clear where Timmerman had been held. Blinken told reporters U.S. officials were working to confirm Timmerman’s identity and provide him support. He said the White House was “working to bring him home, to bring him out of Syria” but declined further comment for privacy reasons. “I can’t give you any details on exactly what’s going to happen,” he said. In a later interview with the Al-Arabiya TV network, Timmerman said he had illegally crossed into Syria on foot from the eastern Lebanese town of Zahle before being detained and held in a cell alone. Timmerman, who said he had been trying to make a Christian pilgrimage, said he had been treated well but could hear other young men being tortured. “It was OK. I was fed. I was watered. The one difficulty was that I couldn’t go to the bathroom when I wanted to,” he said. Timmerman said he was allowed to go only three times a day. “I was not beaten and the guards treated me decently,” he said. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
