Berliner Boersenzeitung - On Syria tour, Blinken pledges to work with Iraq against IS jihadists

EUR -
AED 4.157903
AFN 80.4365
ALL 98.55532
AMD 441.710114
ANG 2.040232
AOA 1036.931974
ARS 1323.457759
AUD 1.77183
AWG 2.03764
AZN 1.913204
BAM 1.954517
BBD 2.292616
BDT 137.95946
BGN 1.954278
BHD 0.428015
BIF 3377.153802
BMD 1.132022
BND 1.483513
BOB 7.845851
BRL 6.44517
BSD 1.135465
BTN 95.958024
BWP 15.543662
BYN 3.715894
BYR 22187.632659
BZD 2.280823
CAD 1.564737
CDF 3252.299322
CHF 0.937105
CLF 0.027952
CLP 1072.636456
CNY 8.231329
CNH 8.234266
COP 4790.740059
CRC 573.518544
CUC 1.132022
CUP 29.998585
CVE 110.192683
CZK 24.916035
DJF 202.199087
DKK 7.462674
DOP 66.825553
DZD 150.160126
EGP 57.566154
ERN 16.980331
ETB 152.377924
FJD 2.557747
FKP 0.848635
GBP 0.849396
GEL 3.107378
GGP 0.848635
GHS 16.180381
GIP 0.848635
GMD 80.938493
GNF 9834.458948
GTQ 8.744261
GYD 238.273625
HKD 8.779861
HNL 29.465532
HRK 7.535646
HTG 148.334788
HUF 404.20547
IDR 18759.303806
ILS 4.086645
IMP 0.848635
INR 95.851988
IQD 1487.180948
IRR 47672.270418
ISK 145.702135
JEP 0.848635
JMD 179.751239
JOD 0.802833
JPY 163.553461
KES 146.981826
KGS 98.99504
KHR 4544.776461
KMF 491.861879
KPW 1018.83275
KRW 1616.515924
KWD 0.346959
KYD 0.946124
KZT 582.592445
LAK 24549.105728
LBP 101737.630162
LKR 339.899932
LRD 227.090964
LSL 21.142811
LTL 3.342567
LVL 0.684749
LYD 6.197987
MAD 10.524393
MDL 19.490381
MGA 5041.691229
MKD 61.494642
MMK 2376.723576
MNT 4046.291121
MOP 9.070665
MRU 44.930116
MUR 51.032079
MVR 17.444583
MWK 1968.907841
MXN 22.232228
MYR 4.884107
MZN 72.449289
NAD 21.139172
NGN 1818.333052
NIO 41.78221
NOK 11.794345
NPR 153.533239
NZD 1.911113
OMR 0.435818
PAB 1.135455
PEN 4.163168
PGK 4.635917
PHP 63.200227
PKR 319.034423
PLN 4.279943
PYG 9094.112034
QAR 4.138484
RON 4.97795
RSD 117.104009
RUB 92.641577
RWF 1631.12232
SAR 4.245526
SBD 9.465173
SCR 16.165648
SDG 679.776825
SEK 10.997486
SGD 1.48146
SHP 0.889592
SLE 25.798818
SLL 23737.918508
SOS 648.871292
SRD 41.711632
STD 23430.571397
SVC 9.933857
SYP 14718.981769
SZL 21.124137
THB 37.915379
TJS 11.967646
TMT 3.962077
TND 3.372287
TOP 2.651311
TRY 43.531457
TTD 7.689697
TWD 36.303758
TZS 3049.760283
UAH 47.103351
UGX 4159.270346
USD 1.132022
UYU 47.778644
UZS 14682.964282
VES 98.189297
VND 29438.234046
VUV 136.504405
WST 3.13939
XAF 655.523896
XAG 0.035597
XAU 0.000353
XCD 3.059346
XDR 0.815258
XOF 655.532577
XPF 119.331742
YER 277.2884
ZAR 21.089685
ZMK 10189.559394
ZMW 31.594544
ZWL 364.510646
  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    63

    0%

  • AZN

    -1.5000

    70.29

    -2.13%

  • SCS

    0.0000

    9.92

    0%

  • BCC

    0.5700

    93.85

    +0.61%

  • GSK

    -0.9110

    38.939

    -2.34%

  • BCE

    -0.3810

    21.869

    -1.74%

  • RIO

    -0.4150

    58.985

    -0.7%

  • CMSC

    0.0500

    22.06

    +0.23%

  • NGG

    -0.4000

    72.6

    -0.55%

  • BTI

    -0.2600

    43.29

    -0.6%

  • RELX

    -0.4800

    54.15

    -0.89%

  • JRI

    0.0660

    12.976

    +0.51%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    10.1

    +0.99%

  • CMSD

    0.0000

    22.3

    0%

  • VOD

    -0.0050

    9.755

    -0.05%

  • BP

    0.2650

    27.725

    +0.96%

On Syria tour, Blinken pledges to work with Iraq against IS jihadists
On Syria tour, Blinken pledges to work with Iraq against IS jihadists / Photo: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS - POOL/AFP

On Syria tour, Blinken pledges to work with Iraq against IS jihadists

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised Friday to work with Iraq to ensure no resurgence of the Islamic State group after Bashar al-Assad's overthrow in neighbouring Syria.

Text size:

On a regional tour devoted to a suddenly-changed Syria, the top US diplomat flew to Baghdad from the Turkish capital Ankara and headed into talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

Blinken said he told Sudani of "our commitment to working with Iraq on security and always working for Iraq's sovereignty, to make sure that that is strengthened and preserved".

"I think this is a moment as well for Iraq to reinforce its own sovereignty as well as its stability, security and success going forward," Blinken said.

He added that "no one knows the importance" more than Iraq of stability in Syria and avoiding the resurgence of Islamic State group (IS) jihadists, also known by the Arabic acronym Daesh.

"We are determined to make sure that Daesh cannot re-emerge," Blinken said.

"The United States (and) Iraq, together had tremendous success in taking away the territorial caliphate that Daesh had created years ago."

Iraq is keen to prevent any spread of chaos from Syria, where on Sunday Islamist-led rebels toppled the five-decade rule of the Assad dynasty following a lightning offensive.

Both Iraq and Syria are still reeling from the insurgency by the ultra-violent IS group, which set up a self-proclaimed caliphate a decade ago over vast swathes stretching across their border.

After taking a helicopter into central Baghdad, Blinken also complimented Iraq on a construction boom, saying it showed growing success.

- US troops -

Iraq's government has urged respect for the "free will" of all Syrians and the country's territorial integrity after Assad's fall.

The deposed Syrian leader hailed from a rival faction of the Baath party of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, ousted in a 2003 US-led invasion.

The United States maintains about 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 more in Syria as part of a campaign to prevent IS resurgence.

President Joe Biden's administration has agreed with Iraq to end the coalition's military presence by September 2025 but stopped short of a complete withdrawal of the US forces, whose presence has been opposed by Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq.

President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month and has long been sceptical of US troop deployments, although it remains unclear whether he would backtrack from Biden's agreement or change tactics in light of developments in Syria.

Blinken has pushed for an "inclusive" political process to bring an accountable government to Syria and avoid sectarian bloodletting of the sort seen in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

In Baghdad, he said he spoke with Sudani about "the situation in Syria and the conviction of so many countries in the region and beyond that, as Syria transitions from the Assad dictatorship to hopefully a democracy, it does so in a way that... protects all of the minorities in Syria, that produces an inclusive, non-sectarian government and does not become in any way a platform for terrorism".

Speaking in Jordan on Thursday, Blinken said that all regional players he had spoken to "agreed on the need to have a unified approach to advance many of our shared interests" in Syria.

He also said that he was seeking to ensure "that Syria is not used as a base for terrorism" and that it does not pose "a threat to its neighbours, or ally with groups like ISIS", using an alternative acronym for IS.

Turkey strongly opposes the US alliance with Syrian Kurdish fighters, who assist the United States with the fight against the Islamic State group but whom Ankara links to outlawed Kurdish separatists at home.

Israel in turn has been pounding Syria, decimating military sites across its historic adversary after a deadly campaign against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, aiming in part to curb the regional influence of Tehran which had allied itself with Assad.

(Y.Yildiz--BBZ)