Assad tells US to leave his country soon

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President Bashar al-Assad raised the possibility of conflict with US forces in Syria if they do not withdraw from the country soon.

In an interview with Russia’s RT international broadcaster, Assad said he would negotiate with fighters backed on the ground by Washington, but would reclaim territory they control by force if necessary, whether or not American troops supported them.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) gives an interview to a journalist from Russia Today in the capital Damascus, May 31, 2018. /VCG Photo

In Washington, the State Department said it was not looking to fight Syrian or Iranian forces, but would use "necessary and proportionate force" to defend the US and partner forces in the fight against ISIL in Syria.

In the RT interview Assad also responded sharply to US President Donald Trump’s description of him as an animal, saying "what you say is what you are."

Around 2,000 US special forces troops are believed to be on the ground in Syria, where they have aided the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters led by the YPG.

Cars on the territory of the former Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria /VCG Photo

The US-backed group holds the largest area of Syrian territory outside government control, but has tried to avoid direct clashes with the government during the multi-sided war.

Assad said the government had "started now opening doors for negotiations" with the SDF.

"This is the first option. If not, we’re going to resort to ... liberating those areas by force. We don’t have any other options, with the Americans or without the Americans," he said in the text of an interview published by Syria’s state news agency.

"The Americans should leave, somehow they’re going to leave," he said, adding that Washington should learn the lesson of its war in Iraq, which lasted longer and was much costlier than anticipated.

Trump said in April he wanted to withdraw American troops from Syria relatively soon, but also voiced a desire to leave a "strong and lasting footprint."

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on April 30 the US and its allies would not want to pull troops out of Syria before peace is reached.

Kino Gabriel, a spokesman for the SDF, said in response to Assad’s comments that a military solution would "lead to more losses and destruction and difficulties for the Syrian people."

Source(s): Reuters