Secretary of State met with Syrian opposition leader Riyad Hijab on Saturday.
The State Department provided a picture of Kerry with the leader in Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ahead of Syrian peace talks there.
The U.S.’s support of Syrian opposition groups has been much criticized, principally over the veracity of those groups’ claims of being “moderate.”
Hijab is a Sunni in majority Shia Syria, matching the religion of the Saudi government, a principal enemy of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
He was previously prime minister of Syria briefly in the summer of 2012 under Assad before the civil war intensified and sides became more fully formed.
Now Hijab fights against Assad.
Hijab is considered the highest ranking defector from Assad’s government. He is the head of the Supreme Negotiations Committee and represents the opposition internationally; his presence is supported by the administration and the United States.
