US doesn't talk about Syria withdrawal timeline: Pompeo

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA

The U.S. does not talk about the timelines of their withdrawal from Syria, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday.

"We don’t talk about timelines. The President’s made a commitment. We’re going to withdraw our uniformed personnel, uniformed guys, 2,000 roughly folks on the ground," Pompeo said en route to Ireland, according to a statement.

"We’re going to withdraw them from Syria," he said.

Asked whether he will talk about timelines with the allies since they have several questions about the U.S. withdrawal strategy, Pompeo said: "I’ve actually spoken to them all."

He added the U.S. will continue to stay in contact with the allies, saying: "If it’s not going perfectly, we’ll work to make it better. We’ll make sure we address concerns that they have."

When Pompeo was asked if President Donald Trump and National Security Adviser John Bolton had contradictory remarks over Syria, he said: "I think they’ve both said the same thing. They’ve both said we’re going to get out."

"The President said we’re going to do it in an orderly fashion that achieves our objective, and that the -- our mission set in the region remains unchanged. Those seems pretty -- it seemed pretty consistent to me.

Pompeo did not give information whether the withdrawal started already and the diplomatic personnel left Syria.

In December, Trump announced plans to withdraw roughly 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, claiming that American forces had defeated Daesh there.