US Gives Nod to Syria to Bring Ex-Opposition Foreign Fighters into Army
The United States has given its blessing to a plan by Syria's new leadership to incorporate thousands of foreign former opposition fighters into the national army, provided that it does so transparently, President Donald Trump's envoy said.
Three Syrian defense officials said that under the plan, some 3,500 foreign fighters, mainly Uyghurs from China and neighboring countries, would join a newly-formed unit, the 84th Syrian army division, which would also include Syrians.
Asked by Reuters in Damascus whether Washington approved the integration of foreign fighters into Syria's new military, Thomas Barrack, the US ambassador to Türkiye who was named Trump's special envoy to Syria last month, said: "I would say there is an understanding, with transparency."
He said it was better to keep the fighters, many of whom are "very loyal" to Syria's new administration, within a state project than to exclude them.
The fate of foreigners who joined Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group during the 13-year war between opposition factions groups and President Bashar al-Assad has been one of the most fraught issues hindering a rapprochement with the West since HTS, a one-time offshoot of al-Qaeda, toppled Assad and took power last year.
At least until early May, the United States had been demanding the new leadership broadly exclude foreign fighters from the security forces.
But Washington's approach to Syria has changed sharply since Trump toured the Middle East last month. Trump agreed to lift Assad-era sanctions on Syria, met Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh and named Barrack, a close friend, as his special envoy.
Two sources close to the Syrian defense ministry told Reuters that Sharaa and his circle had been arguing to Western interlocutors that bringing foreign fighters into the army would be less of a security risk than abandoning them, which could drive them into the orbit of al-Qaeda or ISIS.
The US State Department and a Syrian government spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
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