For US Troops To Remain In Syria, Saudi Arabia Will Have To Pay - Trump

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For US Troops To Remain In Syria, Saudi Arabia Will Have To Pay - Trump

US President, Donald Trump, has said that Saudi Arabia will have to pay if it wants US troops to remain in Syria.

Speaking at a White House press conference, yesterday, President Trump said: “We’ve almost completed that task of defeating ISIS, and we’ll be making a determination very quickly, in coordination with others in the area, as to what we’ll do.

“Saudi Arabia is very interested in our decision, and I said, ‘Well, you know, you want us to stay, maybe you’re going to have to pay.”

Trump had earlier spoken with Saudi King, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud over the phone to discuss a range of regional issues, including a peace plan between Israelis and Palestinians and opportunities to strengthen the American-Saudi strategic partnership.

We earlier reported that Trump last week lamented what he said was Washington’s waste of $7 trillion in Middle East wars. 

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Donald Trump Laments The Waste Of $7trn In Middle East As He Pulls Out Of Syria

​BREAKING NEWS

Donald Trump Laments The Waste Of $7trn In Middle East As He Pulls Out Of Syria

 

US President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that US forces would pull out of Syria “very soon” and lamented what he said was Washington’s waste of $7 trillion in Middle East wars.

In a populist address to industrial workers in Ohio, Trump said US forces were close to securing all of the territory that the Islamic State jihadist group once claimed.

“We’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now,” Times of Israel quoted him as saying.

Trump did not say who the others were who might take care of Syria, but Russia and Iran have sizable forces in the country to support President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

“Very soon — very soon we’re coming out. We’re going to have 100 percent of the caliphate, as they call it — sometimes referred to as ‘land’ — taking it all back quickly, quickly,” he said.

“But we’re going to be coming out of there real soon. Going to get back to our country, where we belong, where we want to be.”

The United States has more than 2,000 military personnel in eastern Syria, working with local militia groups to defeat the Islamic State group while trying to keep out of Syria’s broader civil war.

Trump’s eagerness to quit the conflict flies in the face of a new US Syria strategy announced in January by then secretary of state Rex Tillerson — who has since been sacked.

Tillerson argued that US forces must remain engaged in Syria to prevent IS and Al-Qaeda from returning and to deny Iran a chance “to further strengthen its position in Syria.”

Later in a speech at Stanford University, he also warned that “a total withdrawal of American personnel at this time would restore Assad and continue his brutal treatment against his own people.”

“We spent $7 trillion in the Middle East. And you know what we have for it? Nothing,” Trump declared, promising to focus future US spending on building jobs and infrastructure at home.

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Jerusalem: Israel On Peace Mission, Calls On Palestine To Embrace

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Jerusalem: Israel On Peace Mission, Calls On Palestine To Embrace Peace

 

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has said that President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine must embrace peace.

He said the Palestinian President must stop paying terrorists in order to end the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Netanyahu said this while on official visit to Washington DC, United States (US).

“To get peace, President Abbas has to embrace peace and to stop supporting terror … He pays about $350 million a year to terrorists and their families,” Netanyahu said during remarks to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference.

The prime minister added that he was committed to achieving peace with all of Israel’s neighbours, including the Palestinians.

On Monday, Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Deputy Director-General Alexander Ben-Zvi said Israel was still ready for direct talks with the Palestinians, but a meaningful proposal was needed in order to start the dialogue.

For decades, Israel has been in conflict with the Palestinians, who have been seeking diplomatic recognition for their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which are partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip.

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Afghan President offers peace talks with Taliban ‘without condition’

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Afghan President offers peace talks with Taliban ‘without condition’

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani offered recognition of Taliban insurgents as a legitimate political group on Wednesday as part of a proposed political process that could lead to talks aimed at ending more than 16 years of war. 

The offer, made at the start of an international conference aimed at creating a platform for peace talks, adds to a series of signals from both the Western-backed government and the Taliban suggesting a greater willingness to consider dialogue. 

Ghani proposed a ceasefire and a release of prisoners. He also said he would be ready to accept a review of the constitution as part of a pact with the Taliban, who have so far refused to accept direct talks with the government in Kabul. 

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, seen here during a speech Feb. 23, has proposed a ceasefire and prisoner swap with the Taliban in an effort to kickstart peace talks. Hamed Sarfarazi / AP

"The government offers peace negotiations to the Taliban without any conditions," Ghani said in opening remarks to the conference attended by officials from around 25 countries involved in the so-called Kabul Process. 

The comments represented a significant shift for Ghani, who in the past has regularly called the Taliban "terrorists" and "rebels" although he has also offered to talk with parts of the movement that accepted peace. 

The Taliban, fighting to restore Islamic rule after their 2001 ouster by U.S.-led troops, have offered to begin talks with the United States but have so far refused direct talks with Kabul. It was unclear whether they would be prepared to shift their stance, despite growing international pressure. 

Ammunition surrendered by former Taliban members on display during a reconciliation ceremony in Herat, Afghanistan, on Feb. 21. Jalil Rezayee / EPA

Ghani said a political framework for peace negotiations should be created with a ceasefire and the Taliban recognized as a legitimate political group with an official political office. In return, the movement would have to recognize the Afghan government and respect the rule of law. 

In addition, Taliban prisoners could be released and their names removed from international blacklists, while security arrangements could be made for Taliban agreeing to join a process of reconciliation. Former fighters and refugees could be reintegrated and provided with jobs. 

The United States last year stepped up its military assistance to Afghanistan, notably through a sharp increase in air strikes, with the aim of breaking a stalemate with the insurgents and forcing them to the negotiating table. 

While the U.S. military says the strategy has hit the Taliban hard, they still control or contest much of the country and continue to inflict severe casualties on Afghan forces. 

They also claimed responsibility for two major attacks in Kabul last month that killed or wounded hundreds of civilians.

Source NBCNews

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