Order signed for US military’s Syria exit

WASHINGTON: The US military has confirmed that the order to withdraw American troops from Syria had been signed, after President Donald Trump held talks with his Turkish counterpart to negotiate a pullout that has stunned Washington’s allies.

Trump announced Wednesday that the roughly 2,000 US troops would leave civil war-racked Syria, where they have been deployed to assist in a multinational fight against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group. "The execute order for Syria has been signed," a US military spokesperson said on Sunday in response to a query, without providing further details. Turkey was a rare ally that lauded Trump’s decision on Syria, a country where it will now have a freer rein to target Kurdish fighters who were armed and trained by the US and played a major role in the war against IS but are deemed terrorists by Ankara.

Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone on Sunday and "agreed to ensure coordination between their countries´ military, diplomatic and other officials to avoid a power vacuum which could result following any abuse of the withdrawal and transition phase in Syria," the Turkish presidency said in a statement. Trump tweeted that he and Erdogan "discussed (IS), our mutual involvement in Syria, & the slow & highly coordinated pullout of U.S. troops from the area."

White House aides cited by The Washington Post said Trump’s advisors have persuaded him to withdraw the troops more slowly than he would like in order not to jeopardize their safety. A withdrawal could have extraordinary geopolitical implications, and it runs counter to long-established US policy for the region.