Washington announced Friday the appointment of James Jeffrey, its current envoy to Syria, as the United States envoy to the international coalition against ISIS.
"With this additional responsibility, Ambassador Jeffrey will lead and coordinate US Department of State relations with the Global Coalition to defeat (IS) and Department efforts to implement President Trump's announcement of a responsible US troop withdrawal from Syria," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.
Jeffrey, a former US ambassador to Iraq and Turkey, will replace Brett McGurk as anti-ISIS envoy, a post from which he resigned following US President Donald Trump's controversial decision in December to withdraw American forces from Syria.
The December 21 announcement of McGurk's departure followed that of Jim Mattis, who quit as defense chief over fundamental disagreements with Trump, including over Syria.
Critics say the move puts US-allied Kurdish forces at risk of attack by Turkish troops.
The Kurds have played a major role in the war against ISIS.
A senior State Department official on Friday told reporters the US has no timeline for the withdrawal of troops from Syria and then said it does not plan to stay indefinitely.
Another senior State Department official, also briefing reporters before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s trip to the Middle East next week, said one of his main messages would be that “the United States is not leaving the Middle East.”
“Despite reports to the contrary and false narratives surrounding the Syria decision, we are not going anywhere.”
However, three sources familiar with the matter said that the Trump administration is still working assiduously to contain the fallout from Trump’s troop decision, reported Reuters.
