{"id":32928,"date":"2019-02-23T03:27:29","date_gmt":"2019-02-23T03:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=32928"},"modified":"2019-02-23T03:27:29","modified_gmt":"2019-02-23T03:27:29","slug":"un-yemen-envoy-next-negotiation-stage-depends-on-success-of-redeployment-in-hodeidah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=32928","title":{"rendered":"UN Yemen envoy: Next negotiation stage depends on success of redeployment in Hodeidah"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nBEIRUT, WASHINGTON:\u00a0The Kurdish-led administration that runs much of northern Syria welcomed a US decision to keep 200 American troops in the country after a pullout, saying it would protect their region and may encourage European states to keep forces there too.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe evaluate the White House decision … positively,\u201d Abdulkarim Omar, co-chair of foreign relations in the region held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), told Reuters.<\/p>\n

\nThe White House announced the plans on Thursday to keep \u201ca small peacekeeping force\u201d in Syria, partly reversing a decision by President Donald Trump in December to pull out the entire 2,000-strong force.<\/p>\n

\nTrump\u2019s abrupt announcement of the pullout had been opposed by senior aides including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis who quit in response, and stunned allies including the Kurdish-led SDF, which fought against Daesh with US backing for years.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThis decision may encourage other European states, particularly our partners in the international coalition against terrorism, to keep forces in the region,\u201d Omar added.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI believe that keeping a number of American troops and a larger number of (other) coalition troops, with air protection, will play a role in securing stability and protecting the region too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\nSen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who had harshly criticized Trump\u2019s decision to pull US forces out of Syria, applauded the president\u2019s decision to leave a few hundred as part of an \u201cinternational stabilizing force.\u201d Graham said it will ensure that Turkey will not get into a conflict with SDF forces, which helped the US fight Daesh militants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nMoreover, Graham said leaving a small force in Syria will serve as a check on Iranian ambitions and help ensure that Daesh militants do not try to return.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cA safe zone in Syria made up of international forces is the best way to achieve our national security objectives of continuing to contain Iran, ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS (Daesh), protecting our Turkish allies, and securing the Turkish border with Syria,\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n

\nSen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, called the decision a \u201cbetrayal of our Kurdish partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe SDF is led by a Kurdish militia, which Turkey considers an enemy. Kurdish officials had feared that a total US withdrawal would create a security vacuum and allow Turkey to launch a long-promised offensive against them.<\/p>\n

\nThe Kurds, who seek autonomy within Syria, have made overtures to the government of Bashar Assad, seeking security guarantees as Washington withdraws.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI believe that these forces in this region … will be a motivation, an incentive and also a means of pressure on Damascus to try seriously to have a dialogue to resolve the Syrian crisis,\u201d Omar said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThe SDF is currently involved in a standoff over the final sliver of land held by Daesh in eastern Syria, close to the Iraq border.<\/p>\n

\nMany believe the Daesh threat will not end with the pocket\u2019s recapture and an insurgency is underway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nIn a foreboding sign on Thursday, Daesh claimed responsibility for back-to-back suicide attacks that hit a village miles away, leaving more than a dozen people dead in a rare targeting of civilians.<\/p>\n

\nIt is unclear where the 200 remaining US troops will be stationed.<\/p>\n

\nThe U.S. military has a limited network of bases inside Syria. Troops work mostly out of small camps in remote parts of the country\u2019s northeast.<\/p>\n

\nAlso, U.S. troops are among 200 to 300 coalition troops at a garrison in southern Syria known as al-Tanf, where they train and accompany local Syrian opposition forces on patrols to counter the IS group. Al-Tanf is on a vital road linking Iranian-backed forces from Tehran all the way to southern Lebanon \u2014 and Israel\u2019s doorstep.<\/p>\n

\nTrump spoke Thursday with Turkey\u2019s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cOn Syria, the two presidents agreed to continue coordinating on the creation of a potential safe zone,\u201d the White House said in a statement about the call.<\/p>\n

\nThe White House also said acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford will be hosting their Turkish counterparts in Washington this week for further talks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT, WASHINGTON:\u00a0The Kurdish-led administration that runs much of northern Syria welcomed a US decision to keep 200 American troops in the country after a pullout, saying it would protect their region and may encourage European states to keep forces there too. \u201cWe evaluate the White House decision … positively,\u201d Abdulkarim Omar, co-chair of foreign relations…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":32929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}