MESOPOTAMIA NEWS UPDATE: Russia & Syria tell U.S. forces to leave Syria: joint statement

MOSCOW,— REUTERS –  27 Febr 2019 – Russia and Syria issued a joint statement on Wednesday calling on U.S. forces to leave Syria and to allow people inside a refugee camp in the southeast of the country to be evacuated by Russian and Syrian forces.The statement, released by Russia’s Ministry of Defence, said Russian and Syrian forces had prepared buses to relocate refugees at the camp in the Rubkan area and would guarantee them safe passage so they could start new lives.

“We also call on the United States, whose military units are on Syrian territory illegally, to leave the country,” the joint statement read.

The United States said earlier this month it would leave about 400 U.S. troops split between two different regions of Syria, a reversal by President Donald Trump that could pave the way for U.S. allies to keep troops in Syria.

The Kurdish-led administration in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) that runs much of northern Syria welcomed a U.S. decision to keep 200 American troops in the country after a pullout, saying it would protect their region and may encourage European states to keep forces there too.

The commander of the Syrian Kurdish forces has called for 1,000 to 1,500 international troops to remain in the country to help fight Islamic State and expressed hope the United States, in particular, would halt plans for a total pullout.

Washington has for years supported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria, as part of an international anti-jihadist coalition dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). But U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly announced the pullout from Syria.

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