A journalist says the top US diplomat in Syria is a former al-Qaeda member she once interviewed, a troubling sign for anyone watching Washington's new Syria policy.

• Lindsay Snell reported from rebel-held Syria in 2016 and interviewed a Jabhat al-Nusra member named Muhammad Kinatri, who now serves as the US charge in Damascus.
• In that interview he backed an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law, including beheadings, amputations, and execution for blasphemy and adultery.
• Syria's current president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, founded the same al-Qaeda affiliate, meaning former jihadists now sit on both sides of the US-Syria relationship.
• Al-Qaeda in Syria ran a kidnapping business at the time, seizing foreign journalists and aid workers for million-dollar ransoms.
• Snell says the same man has since threatened her.

Outlook: Expect pressure on the State Department to explain the appointment as more of Snell's account circulates.