Politics
11:53, 14-Nov-2017
Mattis mulls long-term US role in Syria to prevent ISIL 2.0
["other"]
Share
Copied
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis indicated on Monday that American troops could remain in Syria long after militants lose control of territory in order to prevent the establishment of “ISIS (ISIL) 2.0.”
US-backed and Russian-backed forces are currently battling to retake the remaining pockets of ISIL-held terrain.
“The enemy hasn’t declared that they’re done with the area yet, so we’ll keep fighting as long as they want to fight,” Mattis said, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon about the future of US operations in Syria.
Seeking stability
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have affirmed joint efforts to stabilize Syria as its civil war wanes, including with the expansion of a July 7 truce in the southwestern triangle bordering Israel and Jordan.
Mattis said he believed the southwestern zone was working, and spoke hopefully about additional areas in the future that might allow for more refugees to return home.
“You keep broadening them. Try to (demilitarize) one area then (demilitarize) another and just keep it going, try to do the things that will allow people to return to their homes,” he told reporters at the Pentagon.
Peace talks
Mattis also stressed the importance of longer-term peace efforts, suggesting US forces aimed to help set the conditions of a diplomatic solution in Syria, now in its seventh year of civil war.
“We’re not just going to walk away right now before the Geneva process has traction,” he added, before urging all parties to take part in UN-backed peace talks in Switzerland.
A new round of negotiations is scheduled to take place in late November. Seven previous sessions between the Syrian regime and the opposition failed to overcome the main obstacle – the fate of President Bashar al-Assad.
Turkey and Russia
Turkey and Russia have agreed to focus on a political solution in Syria, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
He was speaking after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the southern Russian city of Sochi. Putin added that Russia's work with Turkey and Iran was producing concrete results in Syria and creating conditions for a dialogue there.
More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011.
6939km
Source(s): Reuters