Trump's decision to pull out of Syria baffles coalition partners, opposition

Britain, France plan to stay while Turkey, Iran hold talks

United States President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria has left its coalition partners and opposition in a baffling moment.

Trump insisted the US had ‘won’ the war, Britain believes "much remains to be done" in fighting the militant Islamic State group in Syria. "The global coalition against Daesh has made huge progress," said a government statement issued late Wednesday, referring to the militants.

"Since military operations began, the coalition and its partners in Syria and Iraq have recaptured the vast majority of Daesh territory and important advances have been made in recent days in the last area of eastern Syria which Daesh has occupied.

"But much remains to be done and we must not lose sight of the threat they pose. Even without territory, Daesh will remain a threat."

Junior defence minister Tobias Ellwood was more blunt, retweeting a message from Trump that the militants had been defeated in Syria with the words: "I strongly disagree. It has morphed into other forms of extremism and the threat is very much alive."

The statement from London said: "We remain committed to the global coalition and the campaign to deny Daesh territory and ensure its enduring defeat, working alongside our critical regional partners in Syria and beyond.

Meanwhile, France said it will maintain its participation in the coalition fighting Islamic State forces in Syria.

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



"It's true that the coalition has made significant progress in Syria, but this fight continues, and we will continue it," she said.

France has stationed fighter jets in Jordan and artillery along the Syrian border in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition, as well as an undisclosed number of special forces on the ground.

French Defence Minister Florence Parly said on Twitter Thursday that the group "has not been wiped off the map, nor have its roots."

"We must definitively defeat the last pockets of this terrorist organisation," she said.

On the other, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday held talks with Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, an AFP correspondent said, with Syria likely to dominate the agenda after the surprise US decision to withdraw.



The meeting in Ankara had been arranged before US President Donald Trump stunned allies and American officials on Wednesday with an order to pull ground forces from the war-ravaged nation.

Trump declared on Wednesday that IS had been "beaten" in Syria and announced the pullout of American ground forces from the war-ravaged nation.

Currently, about 2,000 US forces are in Syria, most of them on a train-and-advise mission to support local forces fighting IS.

The Pentagon refused to say what effect the troop withdrawal would have on air operations in Syria that have been ongoing since late 2014.