US Says No Timeline for Syria Withdrawal
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The United States has no timeline to withdraw troops from Syria but does not plan to stay indefinitely, a senior US State Department official said.
“We have no timeline for our military forces to withdraw from Syria,” said the official on Friday, who asked not to be identified, Reuters reported.
“It will be done in such a way that we and our allies and partners maintain pressure on ISIS (Daesh) throughout and we do not open up any vacuums for terrorists.”
The United States did not intend to have an indefinite military presence in Syria, the official added.
The remarks came as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the national security adviser, John Bolton, will travel to the Middle East to shore up support from the US’ partners.
Pompeo is scheduled to leave on Tuesday for an eight-day trip to Amman, Cairo, Manama, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh, Muscat, and finally Kuwait City.
In Cairo, Pompeo is slated to deliver an address to underline the trip's overall message that "the United States is not leaving the Middle East," the official said.
Bolton was to depart Friday for talks with "Israel and Turkey to discuss the withdrawal of US forces from Syria," Garrett Marquis, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said.
President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw the US troops from Syria on December 19, asserting that Daesh had been defeated.