French troops to stay in Syria until political solution

Monitoring Desk

PARIS: France will withdraw from Syria only after a political solution, said the foreign minister on Thursday.

“We will for sure withdraw [from Syria] when a political solution is found,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told CNews television.

Stating that they have soldiers in Iraq and briefly in Syria to support the U.S., Le Drian added that the fight against Daesh terror group was not over yet.

He noted that France’s main target was the fight against Daesh.

Touching on the YPG/PKK terror group, which uses the name SDF in Syria, Le Drian said it was his country’s biggest ally in Syria.

“They fight against Daesh on the ground. The U.S. decision to pullout from Syria is a serious decision because SDF is being put in a hard situation,” adding that they had to provide their security with their allies at the international level. He added that Russia had responsibility to find political solution in the war-torn country as Moscow has been supporting the Bashar al-Assad regime.

In December, U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, claiming that American forces had defeated Daesh there.

Ankara has long criticized the U.S. for working with the terrorist PYD/YPG to fight Daesh in Syria, saying that using one terror group to fight another makes no sense. (AA)