The US State Department’s top diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, will travel to Damascus in the coming days, Financial Times reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.The meeting would mark the first formal in-person contact between US and officials of the victorious “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (HTS), which led the opposition coalition that ousted Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago.Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier said the US has received positive signs from HTS that swept al-Assad from power in Syria, and is considering sending American officials into the country to press for a smooth political transition.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“We’ve been in direct contact, and we’re also looking at getting people on the ground in Syria,” Blinken said Thursday in an interview on “Bloomberg Surveillance.” “We need to see concrete action, not simply positive declarations.”The US trip would follow visits to Damascus by