New Centcom chief meets Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara in Damascus

Admiral Brad Cooper was accompanied by US special envoy Tom Barrack on his first visit to Damascus since he was appointed

Admiral Brad Cooper with Ahmad Al Shara in Damascus on Friday. Photo: Sana / X

Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara met the new head of the US military's Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper in Damascus on Friday, his office and Centcom said.

Admiral Cooper was accompanied by the US special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack. The two officials met Mr Al Shara at the presidential palace in the Syrian capital, Centcom said. The meeting focused on the threat still posed by ISIS in the country, as well as efforts to integrate Syrian armed groups into the government's military, it said.

A statement from the Syrian presidency said Mr Al Shara and the US officials “addressed prospects for co-operation in the political and military fields in the service of shared interests and consolidating the foundations of security and stability in Syria and the region”.

Their meeting “reflected the positive atmosphere and shared interest in strengthening the strategic partnership and expanding channels of communication between Damascus and Washington”, it added.

Ahmad Al Shara and his wife Latifa Al Droubi with US Centcom chief Admiral Brad Cooper and his wife Susan Cooper in Damascus. Photo: Sana / X

The United States has for years maintained a troop presence at a series of bases in Syria as part of efforts against ISIS, the extremist group which overran large areas of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014. Admiral Cooper and Mr Barrack thanked Mr Al Shara for “his support to counter ISIS in Syria”, a Centcom statement said.

“Eliminating the ISIS threat in Syria will reduce the risk of an ISIS attack on the US homeland while working towards President Trump's vision of a prosperous Middle East and a stable Syria at peace with itself and its neighbours,” it said. Admiral Cooper and Mr Barrack also “offered praise to Syria for supporting the recovery of US citizens inside the country”.

Several US citizens went missing or were killed during Syria's civil war, which erupted in 2011. The war ended when rebels led by Mr Al Shara's Hayat Tahrir Al Sham group toppled the long-time dictator Bashar Al Assad in December. The US, EU and countries in the region have supported efforts by the new Syrian authorities to rebuild the war-torn country and restore its economy.

Mr Al Shara's government is also seeking to integrate all armed groups in the country into a newly formed military, including the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls large parts of eastern Syria. The Kurdish-led SDF, which was instrumental in defeating ISIS in Syria continues to carry out operations against the group with US support and has so far resisted pressure from Damascus to join the new military.

In April, the Pentagon announced it would roughly halve the number of troops it has in the country to fewer than 1,000 in the coming months as part of a “consolidation” of US forces. Mr Barrack said in June that the military would eventually close all but one of its bases in Syria.

Admiral Cooper has visited several countries in the region since he was appointed in early August to lead Centcom, the US military command responsible for the Middle East. He met the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in Cairo on Monday, following a visit to Israel at the weekend. He has also held talks with Iraqi officials in Baghdad and in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region last week.