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Trump: US to Leave Syria 'At Proper Pace' While Continuing to Fight Daesh

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - President Donald Trump emphasized in a Twitter statement on Monday that US forces would leave Syria in a prudent way and would continue to fight the Daesh* terrorist group.
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"We will be leaving at a proper pace while at the same time continuing to fight ISIS [Daesh] and doing all else that is prudent and necessary!" Trump wrote.

The president also hit back at a recent article in the New York Times on his policy in Syria, saying the report was "very inaccurate".

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It was unclear which report Trump was referring to, but the newspaper has in recent days highlighted conflicting statements from the Trump administration about the plans to withdraw from Syria.

Trump announced plans for the withdrawal in December, saying that US forces would pull out of the country since the Daesh* terrorist group had already been defeated there.

Middle Eastern Tour

In the meantime, according to a report by the Soufan Center, Washington has dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton to the Middle East to walk back the announcement of a rapid withdrawal of US forces in the region.

"During a stopover in Israel, National Security Adviser Bolton qualified the President’s reversal; he said the timing of the US withdrawal from Syria was 'conditions based' and depended on the defeat of the Islamic State [Daesh] and guarantees from Turkey that Ankara will refrain from attacking the Syrian Kurds once the US withdraws," the report stated. "Secretary Pompeo will also stress that the US isn’t leaving Syria anytime soon."

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Pompeo leaves on Tuesday for visits to Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, and will also travel to Saudi Arabia, while Bolton spoke during a weekend visit to Israel. Bolton is also slated to visit Turkey.

*Daesh — a terrorist organization banned in Russia

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