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US Syria envoy says ‘no role’ for Europe in proposed safe zone

The United States has a “general” deal in place to establish a safe zone in northeastern Syria, the Trump administration’s top Syria policy official said, but the effort will not include European countries.
French President Emmanuel Macron waves to someone in the crowd as he and U.S. President Donald Trump conclude their joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., April 24, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - HP1EE4O1E9LAN
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The United States has a “general” deal in place to establish a safe zone along the Syria-Turkey border, the Donald Trump administration’s top Syria policy official said, but the effort will not include European countries.

Ambassador Jim Jeffrey, the dual-hatted presidential envoy to the anti-Islamic State (IS) coalition and State Department Syria envoy, said that both Turkey and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have agreed to pull back Kurdish forces and to establish a safe zone in northeastern Syria. But Jeffrey told Al-Monitor that European allies would not be part of the arrangement.

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