US, Syrian Top Diplomats Meet At Munich Conference

(MENAFN- Jordan Times) DAMASCUS - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday and they discussed Damascus's recent agreement with the Kurds.

A post by the Syrian foreign ministry included pictures showing that the head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, also attended the meeting.

Syria's government and the Kurdish-led authorities signed last month an agreement to gradually integrate the Kurds' military and civilian institutions into the state.

It came after Kurdish forces ceded territory to advancing government troops following months of tensions and sporadic clashes.

Rubio and Shaibani on Friday discussed the "latest domestic and regional developments, while stressing the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic", the foreign ministry statement said.

The ministry added that Rubio expressed US support for "the recent integration agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces".

SDF leader Abdi later announced that he attended the meeting, describing it as "positive" and telling local media that the meeting discussed the integration process.

The meeting coincided with a move by Damascus to appoint a Kurdish governor of Hasakeh province in eastern Syria, according to a decree published Friday, as part of the integration deal between the government and the SDF.

The official news agency SANA reported a presidential decree appointing Noureddine Ahmed Eissa, a Kurd from Qamishli, to govern Hasakeh, a former stronghold of the Kurdish administration.

Alongside the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group, the SDF spearheaded the battle that led to the jihadist group's territorial defeat in Syria in 2019.

The United States has however drawn close to Syria's new Islamist authorities, recently saying the purpose of its alliance with the Kurdish forces was largely over.

As Damascus seeks to extend its control over all of Syria, US forces confirmed on Thursday their withdrawal from Al-Tanf base near Syria's border with Jordan and Iraq.

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