Head of US military’s Central Command meets Syrian leader in Damascus

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DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The head of the U.S. military’s Central Command held talks Friday with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus in a rare meeting between the new Syrian leader and a top U.S. military officer.

The visit by Adm. Brad Cooper included U.S. Ambassador and Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack, Central Command said. The two officials met al-Sharaa at the presidential palace in the Syrian capital.

Al-Sharaa’s office issued a statement saying they discussed political and military cooperation and how to boost security and stability in Syria as it struggles to recover after the country’s nearly 14-year civil war.

The meeting focused on the threat still posed by the militant Islamic State group, as well as efforts to integrate Syrian armed groups into the government’s military, Central Command said.

“Eliminating the ISIS threat in Syria will reduce the risk of an ISIS attack on the U.S. homeland while working towards President Trump’s vision of a prosperous Middle East and a stable Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors,” the command said in a statement.

The United States has hundreds of troops deployed in eastern Syria part of the international coalition to fight IS.

Despite the militant group’s defeat in Syria in March 2019, IS sleeper cells still carry deadly attacks in the country, mainly against the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Prisons controlled by the Kurdish-led forces have been holding some 9,000 IS members without trial for years, while al-Hol Camp near the border with Iraq is home to tens of thousands of people, mostly wives, widows and children of IS fighters.

Those held at al-Hol camp include Syrians and Iraqis, as well as nationals from Western and Asian countries who traveled to join IS at the height of its power, after it declared a caliphate in 2014.