WASHINGTON: The US has no timeline to withdraw troops from Syria but does not plan to stay indefinitely, a senior State Department official said on Friday, a strong signal that forces could stay until the fight against Daesh militants ends.
US-backed forces are still retaking territory from Daesh in Syria, Pentagon officials said on Friday, two weeks after Washington said it would withdraw its roughly 2,000 troops there. At the time, President Donald Trump said the troops had succeeded in their mission and were no longer needed there.
The administration’s abrupt announcement last month, which took officials in Washington and allies by surprise, contributed to Jim Mattis’ decision to resign as US defense secretary and prompted concern that Daesh could stage a comeback.
The State Department official, briefing reporters before a visit to the Middle East next week by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, appeared to be seeking to allay that concern.
“We have no timeline for our military forces to withdraw from Syria,” said the official, who asked not to be identified.
“It will be done in such a way that we and our allies and partners maintain pressure on Daesh throughout and we do not open up any vacuums for terrorists.”
The US did not intend to have an indefinite military presence in Syria, the official added.
US officials have told Reuters a withdrawal could take several months, potentially giving time for US-backed forces to deal parting blows to the militant group that once held broad swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.
But a senior administration official traveling with White House national security adviser John Bolton on a trip to the Middle East said Trump had received assurances from his military commanders that their mission “can be done in weeks.”
Trump said on Wednesday the US would get out of Syria slowly “over a period of time” and would protect US-backed Kurdish fighters in the country as Washington draws down troops.
“Bolton will travel to Israel and Turkey to discuss the withdrawal of US forces from Syria, and how the US will work with allies and partners to prevent the resurgence of Daesh, stand fast with those who fought with us against Daesh, and counter Iranian malign behavior in the region,” Garrett Marquis, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said.
Marquis said Bolton would be joined in Turkey by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford and US special Syria envoy James Jeffrey.
Separately, the State Department said Jeffrey would be taking on the additional role of the special envoy for the coalition to defeat Daesh.
Jeffrey will be involved in negotiations on a political process and also assumes the diplomatic role of coordinating with allies and partners on the fight against Daesh.
Brett McGurk, the previous special envoy for the global coalition to defeat Daesh, quit last month over Trump’s decision to pull US troops out of Syria.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which include Kurdish fighters, captured the Syrian town of Kashmah on January 2 after retaking the town of Hajjin on December 25, Pentagon spokesman Navy Commander Sean Robertson told Reuters.
The capture came the same day that Trump stated during a cabinet meeting his strong desire to gradually withdraw from Syria, calling it a place of “sand and death.”
Trump also said it was up to other countries to fight Daesh, including Russia and Iran, adding that Daesh was down to its last remaining bits of territory in Syria.
“We’re hitting the hell out of them, the Daesh people,” Trump said, using an acronym to refer to Daesh, adding, “We’re down to final blows.”
Separately on Friday, the US-led coalition said it carried out 469 strikes in Syria between December 16 and December 29 that destroyed nearly 300 fighting positions, more than 150 staging areas, and a number of supply routes, oil lubricant storage facilities and equipment.
Daesh retains control of just a “sprinkle of villages” near the Euphrates river, said Aaron Stein, the Middle East program director at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
“(Daesh) will simply revert to a diffused rural insurgency where it could use just the tyranny of space — the desert is very big — to sort of hide out and be able to launch raiding attacks,” he added.
The Pentagon spokesman said coalition forces, which Washington coordinates, were continuing to assist the SDF with close air support and artillery strikes in the Middle Euphrates River Valley.
“We will continue to work with the coalition and regional partners toward an enduring defeat of Daesh,” Robertson said.
He called the capture of Hajjin significant.
“This was a milestone, since it was among the largest of the last remaining Daesh strongholds in the Middle Euphrates River Valley.”
Daesh declared its “caliphate” in 2014 after seizing large swathes of Syria and Iraq. The hard-line militant group established its de facto capital in the Syrian city of Raqqa, using it as a base to plot attacks in Europe.
Much of the US campaign in Syria has been waged by warplanes flying out of Qatar and other locations in the Middle East.
US gives no timeline for Syria withdrawal as fighting continues
US gives no timeline for Syria withdrawal as fighting continues
- US-backed forces are still retaking territory from Daesh in Syria, Pentagon officials said on Friday
- Coalition forces, which Washington coordinates, were continuing to assist with close air support and artillery strikes
Tunisia shuts down large migrant camps
- The camps had prompted anger from residents in nearby villages, raising pressure on the authorities
EI AMRA, Tunisia: Tunisia has dismantled camps housing thousands of undocumented migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, police said, following a campaign against them on social media.
Around 20,000 migrants had set up tents in fields in the eastern regions of El-Amra and Jebeniana, said national guard spokesman Houcem Eddine Jebabli.
He said around 4,000 people of various nationalities had left one of the camps cleared by authorities, and operations would continue over the coming days.
Some of the migrants had “dispersed into the countryside,” with pregnant women and the infirm taken care of by the health authorities, he added.
The camps had prompted anger from residents in nearby villages, raising pressure on the authorities.
Jebabli said locals had taken legal action over the occupation of their olive groves by the migrants.
“It was our duty to end all the disorder,” he said.
Tunisian President Kais Saied on March 25 called on the International Organization for Migration to accelerate voluntary returns for irregular migrants to their home countries.
In recent years, Tunisia has become a key departure point in North Africa for migrants crossing the perilous Mediterranean Sea in hopes of reaching Europe.
Italy has agreements with Tunisia and Libya to provide funding in exchange for help stemming departures.
Italy plans to invest €20 million ($22 million) in a new project to help Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia send irregular migrants from their territories back to the migrants’ countries of origin.
The government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has vowed to cut irregular migration to Italy’s shores from North Africa — the majority of whom depart from Libya and Tunisia.
But many of the migrants who depart hail from other countries, especially sub-Saharan African countries.
Italy’s new plan “focuses on strengthening the institutional and administrative-managerial capacities of the partner countries,” with the involvement of 400 officials, Italy’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a recent statement.
Irregular migration would be better addressed “through the improvement and development of assisted voluntary repatriations from Algeria, Libya and Tunisia to the countries of origin,” it said.
It said the project would collaborate with the IOM to ensure migrants’ rights.
The ministry said the plan would benefit “around 3,300 of the most vulnerable migrants, carrying out their repatriation to their countries of origin sustainably and effectively.”
It said Italy’s Agency for Development Cooperation, which helps carry out development activities, would provide technical support.
The agency has also been charged with another plan targeted at the “socio-economic reintegration of returning migrants,” tapping Italian companies and civil society groups, it said.
On Wednesday, Libyan authorities said they would suspend the work of 10 international humanitarian groups, including Doctors Without Borders, accusing them of a plan to “settle migrants” from other parts of Africa in the country.
Israeli general condemns West Bank settler riot, ‘vandalism’ by troops
- Major General Avi Bluth addressed a “series of unusual incidents” while visiting Israeli police officers in the West Bank
- Bluth “emphasized that these are exceptional incidents that must be addressed with the necessary severity“
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The Israeli military’s top commander in the occupied West Bank condemned recent violence by Israeli settlers against police and “unacceptable” conduct by soldiers, in a video shared by the army on Friday.
A military statement said that Major General Avi Bluth addressed a “series of unusual incidents” while visiting Israeli police officers in the West Bank, near the site of a riot involving settlers earlier this week.
Israeli police said they had arrested 17 suspects over the “violent riot” on Wednesday near the settlement outpost of Givat Habaladim, northeast of the Palestinian city of Ramallah, during which Israeli settlers threw stones at officers and torched a police car.
Bluth “emphasized that these are exceptional incidents that must be addressed with the necessary severity,” the military statement said.
Referring to the settlers’ attack on Israeli forces, Bluth said in the video: “Beyond the fact that this is a red line that has been crossed and will be dealt with seriously, there is no greater act of ingratitude.”
Rights groups often accuse the army of protecting Israeli settlers in the West Bank, and the United Nations has said that settler attacks against Palestinians are taking place in a climate of “impunity.”
In a recent incident Bluth did not address in the video, the army said that this week “dozens of Israeli civilians... set fire to property” in the Palestinian village of Duma, injuring several people.
The Israeli general mentioned “vandalism and graffiti” by reserve soldiers during a military raid on Wednesday, in the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem.
While a major offensive since January has focused on refugee camps in the northern West Bank, Dheisheh in the south has seen an uptick in Israeli army raids in recent weeks.
Images shared on social media showed vandalized apartments, where furniture was broken and Israeli nationalist slogans spray painted on walls.
Bluth said that “the conduct in Dheisheh by our reserve soldiers is not what we stand for.”
“Vandalism and graffiti during an operational mission are, from our perspective, unacceptable incidents. It is inconceivable that IDF (army) soldiers do not act according to their commanders’ orders,” he said.
Since war began in October 2023 in the Gaza Strip — a separate Palestinian territory — violence has soared in the West Bank.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 917 Palestinians, including militants, in the West Bank since October 2023, according to Palestinian health ministry figures.
Palestinian attacks and clashes during military raids have killed at least 33 Israelis, including soldiers, over the same period, according to official figures.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, home to about three million Palestinians, since 1967.
Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, around 490,000 Israelis live there in settlements and outposts that are illegal under international law. Outposts are also illegal under Israeli law.
Macron to hold Gaza summit with Egyptian, Jordanian leaders
- The French president is expected in Cairo on Sunday evening
- The trilateral summit will be held the same day
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said he would hold a trilateral summit on the situation in Gaza with Egypt President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
Israel has pushed to seize territory in Gaza since the collapse of a short-lived truce in its war with Hamas, in what it has called a strategy to force the militants to free hostages still in captivity.
Simultaneously, Israel has escalated attacks on Lebanon and Syria.
“In response to the Gaza emergency and during my visit to Egypt at President El-Sisi’s invitation, we will hold a trilateral summit with the Egyptian president and the King of Jordan,” Macron wrote on X ahead of his trip.
The French president is expected in Cairo on Sunday evening, where he will hold talks with his Egyptian counterpart on Monday morning.
The trilateral summit will be held the same day in the Egyptian capital, according to Macron’s office.
On Tuesday, Macron will also visit the Egyptian port of El-Arish, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the Gaza Strip, to meet humanitarian and security workers and demonstrate his “constant mobilization in favor of a ceasefire.”
El-Arish is a transit point for international aid intended for Gaza.
Libya’s anti-NGO push seen as diversion from internal failures, analysts say
- Anas Al-Gomati, director of the Tripoli-based Sadeq Institute think tank, said “this isn’t about NGOs — it’s about creating enemies to distract from failures“
- Libya analyst Jalel Harchaoui noted that the Tripoli government is adopting a similar tone to Tunisian President Kais Saied
TUNIS: Libya’s suspension of 10 international humanitarian groups, part of a broader crackdown on African migrants, is aimed at masking domestic failures and securing external concessions, particularly from Europe, analysts have said.
Libya’s Tripoli-based authorities announced on Wednesday a decision to suspend the Norwegian Refugee Council, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Terre des Hommes, CESVI and six other groups, accusing them of a plan to “settle migrants” from other parts of Africa in the country.
War-torn Libya is a key departure point on North Africa’s Mediterranean coast for migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan African countries, risking dangerous sea voyages in the hope of reaching Europe.
Anas Al-Gomati, director of the Tripoli-based Sadeq Institute think tank, said “this isn’t about NGOs — it’s about creating enemies to distract from failures.”
The UN-recognized government of Abdulhamid Dbeibah is “tapping into conservative anxieties while masking their inability to provide basic services,” he told AFP.
Libya has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi.
It remains split between the UN-recognized government in Tripoli and a rival authority in the east, backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
The ultimate goal, according to Gomati, is to “extract concessions from Europe which, fearing potential migration surges, will offer new funding packages and prop up the government in Tripoli.”
On Wednesday, Rome announced the allocation of 20 million euros to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to finance “voluntary repatriations” for 3,300 sub-Saharan migrants who arrived in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
“This isn’t coincidence — its coordination. The Libyan authorities shut down NGOs providing monitoring and protection (for migrants) precisely as Italy announces 20 million euros for ‘voluntary’ returns,” said Gomati.
“Italy gets to claim they’re funding ‘voluntary’ returns while Libya gets to demonstrate ‘sovereignty’, all while vulnerable migrants face extortion in detention before being labelled ‘volunteers’ for deportation.”
Libya analyst Jalel Harchaoui noted that the Tripoli government is adopting a similar tone to Tunisian President Kais Saied, who in early 2023 denounced what he called “hordes of sub-Saharan migrants” who threatened to “change the country’s demographic composition.”
Harchaoui, of the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said Dbeibah was facing considerable difficulties, particularly in gaining access to public funds, and his once pragmatic relationship with the Haftar family in the east had deteriorated.
The two rivals had previously struck a kind of non-aggression pact in exchange for sharing oil revenues.
“In its bid to assert control and project strength, the Dbeibah government has turned to demonizing sub-Saharan migrants and denouncing NGOs,” Harchaoui said.
This aims to “show who’s in charge in Tripoli and create the illusion that he is curbing migration flows.”
Exiled Libyan human rights activist Husam el-Gomati said on X that “this crackdown appears not only to limit the influence of these organizations but also to prevent the documentation of human rights violations and delay any potential punitive measures against militia leaders involved in these abuses.”
Various reports from the United Nations and NGOs such as Amnesty International have denounced the arbitrary detentions of government opponents, journalists and lawyers in recent months, as well as abuses against migrants, including the discovery of mass graves.
Following the NGO ban, aid groups have expressed concern for both their Libyan colleagues and the migrants who have been made more vulnerable in a country that, according to the IOM, is home to more than 700,000 residents from sub-Saharan countries.
The International Commission of Jurists on Friday condemned the “recent collective expulsions, arrests, violent attacks and the surge of hate speech, including that which constitutes incitement to violence, against migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya.”
The organization noted that the Libyan interior ministry has pledged “the deportation of 100,000 migrants every four months.”
Lebanese officials discuss south Lebanon with visiting US envoy
- Ortagus praises Lebanese army for fulfilling duties in southern Lebanon
- Lebanon informs envoy about negotiations to continue demarcation of land border with Israel
BEIRUT: Senior Lebanese officials said Saturday’s discussions with the visiting US deputy special envoy for the Middle East were positive, with talks focusing on south Lebanon amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Lebanese presidency described the meeting held on Saturday between Joseph Aoun and Morgan Ortagus as “constructive.”
It added that the discussion with President Aoun “covered the situation in southern Lebanon and on the Lebanese-Syrian border, as well as financial and economic reforms and combating corruption.”
Ortagus arrived in Beirut on Friday evening and held a series of meetings on Saturday with Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Rodolph Haykal and Lebanese Forces Party leader Samir Geagea.
It marked her second visit to Lebanon, following a trip in early February during which she made strong statements against Hezbollah.
Hezbollah “will not be part of the Lebanese government and it has been militarily defeated, signaling the end of its reign of terror in Lebanon and globally,” she said at the time.
Additional meetings this week were scheduled between Ortagus and other officials, including Finance Minister Yassin Jaber, Economy Minister Amer Bisat and newly appointed Central Bank Gov. Karim Souaid.
Th Lebanese officials are set to leave for New York City for the 2025 spring meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund, taking place from April 21-26.
Ortagus did not deliver a statement following the Lebanon meetings.
Natasha Franceschi, US deputy assistant secretary for the Levant and Syria, and US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson joined her during the talks.
“Ortagus was understanding, and the atmosphere of the meeting with her differed from the previous time,” said a political source familiar with the meetings.
Regarding the disarmament of illegal weapons, the source said that Ortagus commended the efforts of the Lebanese army in the south and highlighted the importance of forces continuing their duties.
The source added that the official position of Lebanon, which all officials agreed to present to the American envoy on Saturday, is that Lebanon is willing to negotiate with Israel on completing the demarcation of the land border.
“However, there will be no negotiations regarding the release of Lebanese prisoners or Israel’s withdrawal from the five Lebanese hills it still occupies,” they added.
“These two matters are Israel’s responsibility, and it must fully implement the ceasefire agreement, which includes halting aggression against Lebanese territories.”
The source said that Ortagus highlighted the importance of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.
She was briefed on Lebanon’s position regarding the process for demarcating maritime borders in previous years, the source said. Led by former US envoy Amos Hochstein, the process involved a technical-military committee and shuttle diplomacy.
Ortagus focused her talks on “the issue of withdrawing Hezbollah’s illegal weapons, linking the significance of this matter to restoring trust in Lebanon and enabling the country to secure funds for reconstruction.”
The prime minister’s media office said that Ortagus commended the government’s reform plan.
She highlighted several initiatives that had been implemented, including the abolition of banking secrecy, the proposed legislation for banking sector reform, the introduction of a new appointment mechanism for state administrations, and the government’s strategies for administrative and institutional reform, as well as anti-corruption efforts.
There was also an emphasis on the importance of reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
The meeting between Ortagus and the prime minister lasted more than an hour and included a private discussion between the officials.
Salam’s media office said that the meeting was characterized by a “positive atmosphere.”
Regarding developments in the south, the media office said that discussions focused on the measures being implemented by the Lebanese army to enforce UN Resolution 1701 and the security arrangements aimed at halting hostilities, in collaboration with the military monitoring committee.
The process of completing Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory was also addressed.
The US envoy expressed satisfaction with the actions the government had begun to take at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut.
Regarding the situation at the Lebanese-Syrian border, Ortagus highlighted the importance “of fully securing the area to prevent any tensions or chaos, as well as to eliminate all forms of smuggling.”
The media office of the speaker of the parliament described the meeting, which included a private session with the American envoy, as “good and constructive.”
