# Barbara Leaf

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Barbara Leaf," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/barbara-leaf/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*American diplomat, assistant secretary of state for the Near East, and — in John Kiriakou's description — an old friend of his. He cites her trip to Damascus, made within days of al-Julani taking power and alongside the special envoy for hostage affairs, as the moment American recognition was traded for the lifting of the ten-million-dollar bounty on the new Syrian leader.*

- **Position:** Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
- **Relationship to Kiriakou:** 'An old friend of mine'
- **Damascus mission:** Within days of [al-Julani](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/al-julani) taking power, with the special envoy for hostage affairs

**Barbara Leaf** is an American diplomat serving as assistant secretary of state for the Near East, and a person [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) identifies as *"an old friend of mine."*[1]

She appears in his account of Syria as the instrument of an unusually fast reversal. On his telling, [al-Julani](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/al-julani)'s first act after taking power was to invite Leaf and the assistant secretary of state for hostage affairs to Syria — *"and this is like days after he took power"* — with recognition following in exchange for the lifting of the ten-million-dollar American bounty on him.[2][3]

Describing the same trip later, Kiriakou put it more drily: Leaf *"jets off to Damascus with the special envoy for hostage negotiations to make peace and bring gifts"* — after which the new Syrian president was invited to the White House *"to be fêted by all the Washington swells."*[1]

## See also

- [Al-Julani](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/al-julani)
- [U.S. foreign policy process](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/us-forces-in-syria-legality)
- [Bashar al-Assad](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bashar-al-assad)

## Sources

1. CIA Veterans & Deep State (w/ Barry Eisler) (2025-11-20), at 19:14. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-qsocM6Khc&t=1154s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-20-american-exception-cia-veterans-deep-state-w-barry-eisler/
2. TruthOverComfort (2025-03-26), at 26:47. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6hUaGpckB0&t=1607s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-03-26-truthovercomfort-truthovercomfort/
3. TruthOverComfort (2025-03-26), at 27:19. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6hUaGpckB0&t=1639s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-03-26-truthovercomfort-truthovercomfort/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/barbara-leaf/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt