US won’t change Syria policy to free missing Americans, Pompeo says
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked if the Trump administration would consider meeting the Syrian regime's terms, which reportedly include withdrawing all American forces from the country.
Efforts to free missing Americans in Syria won’t involve a change in US policy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said today, brushing aside reports that the Syrian government’s demands include a full withdrawal of US troops from the country.
The Wall Street Journal first reported this week that White House officials Kash Patel and Roger Carstens were dispatched to Damascus earlier this year for rare high-level negotiations with Syrian intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk. The American delegation was reportedly there to broker the release of freelance journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while covering the civil war in 2012, and Majd Kamalmaz, a psychotherapist from Virginia missing since 2017.
According to The National, Syrian negotiators have included a full US troop pullout in their list of demands. Regime-friendly media later reported that withdrawal was a precondition for any talks on the missing men.
Asked in a press briefing today if removing troops was an option on the table, Pompeo demurred.
