France vows support for Syria militants amid US pullout

A French official says his country has pledged backing for the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed anti-Damascus alliance of mainly Kurdish militants, amid the planned withdrawal of American troops from the Arab country.

The Elysee Palace official said that advisers to French President Emmanuel Macron had assured SDF of their support in a meeting with the group's figures, including co-chairs Ilham Ahmed and Riad Darrar, in Paris on Friday.

“The advisers passed on a message of support and solidarity and explained to them the talks France had with US authorities to continue the fight against Daesh," the official added.

The remarks came two days after President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced that the US would be pulling all its 2,000 forces out of Syria. He also claimed victory over the Daesh Takfiri terror outfit in the war-torn state.

However, France, a leading member of the US-led coalition, purportedly fighting Daesh in Syria, said that it would keep troops in Syria.

"For now of course we remain in Syria," France's European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau said on CNews television, noting "the fight against terrorism is not over."

Separately, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Paris had started talks with Washington on the timeframe and conditions for the US's Syria withdrawal.

Meanwhile, Turkey, which has opposed American support for the SDF because it believes they are the same group as the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), stressed that it would take over the fight against Daesh in Syria.

In a speech in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would mobilize to fight the remaining Daesh elements and temporarily delay plans to attack Kurdish militants in Syria's northeast.

PressTV-Erdogan welcomes US troop withdrawal from Syria

President Erdogan welcomed the announced withdrawal from Syria, temporarily postponing a planned anti-YPG operation.

American and Turkish officials told The Associated Press that Trump had made the decision for the Syria pullout during the December 14 telephone conversation with Erdogan.

On Thursday, Turkish Defense Minister General Hulusi Akar warned that Kurdish militants operating east of the Euphrates River would be "buried in the ditches" they dig.

"Now we have Manbij and the east of the Euphrates in front of us. We are working intensively on this subject," he was quoted as saying by Anadolu news agency.

"Right now it is being said that some ditches, tunnels were dug in Manbij and to the east of the Euphrates. They can dig tunnels or ditches if they want, they can go underground if they want, when the time and place comes, they will buried in the ditches they dug. No one should doubt this."

US soothes Iraq concerns

In another development on Saturday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi that Washington would continue operations in the Arab country despite the Syria exit.

Abdul-Mahdi's office said in a statement that he had "received a phone call from Pompeo who explained the details of the upcoming withdrawal from Syria and affirmed the United States is still committed to fight Daesh and terrorism in Iraq and other areas."

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