State Dept.: No change in US policy on UN terror list

By Esra Kaymak Avci

WASHINGTON (AA) – There has been no change in U.S. support for policy that states only groups designated by the UN as terrorists must be excluded from a cessation of hostilities deal in Syria, the State Department said Tuesday.

"The U.N. has not designated those groups are foreign terrorist organizations," agency spokesman John Kirby said during a press briefing referring to Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham -- two Syrian opposition groups Russia considers terrorist entities.

"We're going to abide by the agreement that we also signed up to inside the ISSG,” he said referring to the 20-member International Syria Support Group that is working to find a solution to the crisis in Syria. “There's been no change to that and I don't see any changes coming to that."

Kirby said all members of the ISSG, including Russia, agreed to a U.N. Security Council resolution that decided which groups in Syria to designate as foreign terrorist organizations and whether they would be party to the cessation of hostilities.

Currently, only Daesh and al-Nusra are excluded from the deal that was signed in February to halt the violence in Syria.

Kirby's remarks follow a Washington Post story that said Secretary of State John Kerry implied last month that Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham were "subgroups" of the terrorist organizations.

Asked what Kerry meant, Kirby said his boss was referring only to the fact that the U.S. is not "blind to the notion that some of these fighters shift their loyalties" and go from fighting in one group to another.

"He wasn't changing our policy, with respect to who is or who is not part of the cessation of hostilities," Kirby said.

Later this week Kerry will travel to Moscow where he will meet with senior Russian officials to discuss a range of issues, including the cessation of hostilities in Syria and efforts for Syria's political transition.