The new leader of Syria, Mr Abu Mohammad al-Jolani or just Ahmad al-Sarahad a “positive” meeting today with American diplomats who arrived in Damascus for a first official contact with the new leadershipdominated by radical Islamists who overthrew his regime Bashar al-Assada Syrian official told AFP.

In a sign of support for a change in leadership in Syria, the US has decided to lift a $10 million bounty on Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, Reuters reported.

“The meeting took place and it was positive and the results are positively», said the official, who asked not to be named.

Press conference scheduled after the meeting by the American delegation, which includes Barbara Leafofficial in charge of the Middle East, was however canceled for “security reasons”, announced a US representative in Damascus.

al-Sara, known until now by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, is the leader of the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)which remains on the lists of “terrorists” in many countries, including the US, where it is itself the target of US sanctions.

After more than 13 years of civil war that fragmented and devastated the country, the victory of the HTS-led rebel alliance ended half a century of rule and repression by the Assad family.

The fall of Bashar al-Assad was greeted with scenes of jubilation in the country, but the new leadership is under the microscope of the international community and Syrians themselves who want to see if it will show respect for human rights, the treatment of minorities in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country and the future of the semi-autonomous Kurdish regions of northern Syria.

The new authorities, under HTS, former Syrian branch of al-Qaedastate that they will respect the freedoms of Syrians and have pledged to “guarantee the rights of all”. However, many are concerned given their Islamic orientation. HTS claims to have severed its ties with the jihadists.

Women are “absolutely essential” to rebuilding Syria, she said today Amy Popethe head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), asking the new authorities to give them “a place in the new society”. Returning from Syria, he also called for a “re-evaluation” of international sanctions to allow the reconstruction of the country.

Yesterday Thursday was held in Damascus demonstration with the participation of hundreds of people demanding democracy and the guarantee of women’s rights.

“The era of silence is over, we will be on the lookout for any position that harms women and will not accept it”said the Mazinda Mudaresa 50-year-old protester.

At the same time, thousands of people demonstrated in Kamishliin northeastern Syria, to support Kurdish forces trying to repel attacks by fighters backed by Turkey, an ally of the new leadership in Syria.

In the capital, residents received messages on their mobile phones addressed to the “people of Damascus, the city of jasmine”, to join “liberation festival” today in Omeida square, in the heart of the city.

The US delegation is also expected to meet with civil society representatives in the Syrian capital to discuss “their vision for the future of their country and how the United States can support them”according to State Department.

This delegation, the first official diplomatic mission sent to Damascus since the outbreak of Syria’s bloody civil war in 2011, includes Roger Carstenswhich is tasked with gathering information about Americans missing in Syria, such as journalist Austin Tice, who was kidnapped in August 2012.

As of this morning, officials and guards were hard at work in front of the US embassy building, preparing cars for the mission.

With today’s visit of the American delegation, the US followed in France’s footstepswhose flag now flies at the embassy that recently reopened after closing in 2012, of Germany, Britain and the UNwho sent emissaries to reestablish contact with the transitional authorities, whose first steps are being watched by everyone carefully.

HTS claims that has broken with jihadism and seeks reassurance about how he will govern at a time when the country urgently needs “massive” humanitarian aid, according to the UN.

“The Syrian people are at a historic moment and a moment of opportunity, and this opportunity must not be lost”the Secretary General of the United Nations said yesterday Antonio Guterres.

Although they remain skeptical, Westerners are seeking to establish contacts with the new authorities, aware of the risk of fragmentation of the country and the re-strengthening of the jihadist organization. Islamic State (IS)which was never completely eradicated in Syria.

The US military announced today that it had killed a senior member of the Islamic State group in an attack launched yesterday in the province of Deir Ezzor.

The United States announced yesterday that it has doubled its military strength in Syria in recent months as part of operations against the Islamic State group, bringing the American force to about 2,000 people.

Washington supports them Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) dominated by the Kurds, who control semi-autonomous regions of northern Syria.

The situation remains particularly volatile in this part of the country, where the Kurdish community, which has lived under Assad’s oppressive regime, fears losing the limited autonomy it has won in blood since 2011.

Since the fall of Assad on December 8, attacks by Turkish-backed groups against Washington-backed Kurdish fighters have intensified.

The Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan stated that members of the Islamic State and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and organizations linked to them must be eliminated for a secure and stable new Syria.