Iraq gets nod to attack ISIS on Syrian turf

Fire, don’t ask, Assad says; Putin reaches out to Turkey

Syrian President Bashar Assad (right) meets with President Omar Bashir of Sudan in Damascus on Dec. 16, in the first visit by an Arab head of state since the start of the war in Syria. On Thursday, the United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus.
Syrian President Bashar Assad (right) meets with President Omar Bashir of Sudan in Damascus on Dec. 16, in the first visit by an Arab head of state since the start of the war in Syria. On Thursday, the United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus.

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syrian President Bashar Assad authorized Iraqi forces on Sunday to attack the Islamic State militant group inside Syria without waiting for permission from authorities in Damascus, the state news agency said, as the two allies coordinate their fight against extremists ahead of a planned U.S. withdrawal from Syria.

Also Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Russia and Turkey have a crucial role to play in resolving the conflict in Syria, a day after their countries agreed to coordinate military steps after the U.S. decision to withdraw its forces.

The Syrian announcement highlights the close relations between the two neighboring Arab countries that are both allied with Iran. The Islamic State group once controlled large parts of both countries when it declared a caliphate in 2014.

Iraqi warplanes and artillery have in the past pounded Islamic State positions inside Syria after getting the green light from Syrian authorities.

The extremists have been defeated in Iraq but still hold a small area in Syria close to the Iraqi border.

On Saturday, Assad received a letter from Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi calling for both countries' coordination in "fighting terrorism."

President Donald Trump announced earlier this month that the U.S. will withdraw all of its 2,000 forces in Syria. The main U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces has expressed concerns that the U.S. plans to pull out could lead to the revival of Islamic State, saying that the extremists have not been defeated yet in Syria.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a vocal Republican critic of Trump's plan for a 30-day withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, suggested Sunday that the pullout had been slowed and that he felt "a lot better" about it after a lunch with the president.

"I think we're in a pause situation where we are re-evaluating what's the best way to achieve the president's objective of having people pay more and do more," Graham said.

He did not elaborate on what that meant. But he may have been referring to assurances that Trump is said to have given some military officials that they can have more time than 30 days to ensure a proper drawdown of troops.

Graham told reporters outside the West Wing entrance Sunday afternoon that he and the president had had a frank discussion over lunch.

"We talked about Syria, and he told me some things that I didn't know that make me feel a lot better about where we're headed in Syria," Graham said. "He promised to destroy ISIS. He's going to keep that promise. We're not there yet, but as I said today, we're inside the 10-yard line, and the president understands the need to finish the job."

In Tehran, Iran and Syria on Sunday signed a long-term strategic and economic agreement as the war winds down in Syria where Iran and Russia were the main backers of Assad's government since the crisis began nearly eight years ago.

Syria's SANA news agency quoted Syrian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Mohammed Samer al-Khalil, who signed the agreement, as saying that the deal includes "full cooperation on the financial and banking levels." He added that this would allow Iranian companies to be present through investments in Syria.

The Syrian government has gained control of large parts of the country with the help of Iran and Russia and some Arab countries, including the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, have reopened their embassies in Damascus.

The Syrian government estimates reconstruction of the war-torn country will cost some $200 billion and last 15 years.

Al-Khalil said that "priority in the reconstruction of Syria will be given to Iranian public and private companies," according to SANA's report.

SANA also reported that a technical delegation from the United Arab Emirates visited Damascus International Airport to evaluate it in preparation for resumption of flights between the Gulf nation and Syria.

A PUTIN NEW YEAR

In a New Year's message to Erdogan published by the Kremlin on Sunday, Putin said that "Moscow and Ankara are making a decisive contribution to the fight against terrorism in Syria, as well as to the promotion of a political settlement in that country."

His comment came a day after the Russian and Turkish foreign and defense ministers, as well as the countries' intelligence chiefs, held talks in Moscow on Syria as they move to fill the void left by Trump's decision to order a military pullout.

"We reached an agreement on how Russian and Turkish military representatives on the ground will continue to coordinate their actions in these new conditions, with the goal of decisively defeating the terrorist threat in Syria," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters after the talks. The two countries have a "common will to clear Syrian territories of all terrorist groups," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Russia said Saturday that Syrian government forces have taken control of Manbij, a strategic town close to the border with Turkey that had been under the command of a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia before Trump announced his withdrawal.

On Friday, the U.S.-led coalition had denied what it called "incorrect" information about changes to the presence of military forces in Manbij. The Turkish army was threatening an offensive to eliminate the presence of Kurdish fighters from the town, saying it's a terrorist organization linked to Kurdish separatists inside its own borders.

Russia and Turkey have been maneuvering to position themselves for a new order in a Syria without a U.S. military presence.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Erdogan on Sunday that she expects Turkey to react with "restraint and responsibility" after U.S. plans to pull troops out of Syria.

Merkel and Erdogan spoke by phone and both emphasized the importance of the political process led by the United Nations to end conflict in Syria, according to a German government spokesman. The chancellor also praised Turkey for taking in Syrian refugees, the spokesman said.

The German and Turkish leaders discussed migrants moving toward Europe and the fight against terror, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported, citing the presidency. They agreed to remain in coordination after the U.S. pullout and the implementation of an agreement reached at a summit in Istanbul, according to Anadolu.

The message to Erdogan was among dozens of holiday greetings Putin sent to other world leaders, each tailored to reflect a bilateral theme. The recipients included Assad, whom Putin has backed throughout the civil war.

Putin's message to Assad "stressed that Russia will continue to provide all-around assistance to the government and people of Syria in their fight against terrorism and efforts to protect state sovereignty and territorial integrity," according to the Kremlin summary.

Putin also told Trump in a New Year's letter Sunday that the Kremlin is "open to dialogue" on the myriad issues hindering relations between Russia and the U.S.

The summary of Putin's message published by the Kremlin states the Russian leader wrote: "Russia-U.S. relations are the most important factor behind ensuring strategic stability and international security."

Trump canceled a formal meeting with Putin scheduled for Dec. 1 at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, tweeting "it would be best for all parties" given Russia's seizure days earlier of three Ukrainian naval vessels.

Since then, the Kremlin has repeatedly said it is open to dialogue.

Information for this article was contributed by Albert Aji, Bassem Mroue, Kevin Freking and staff members of The Associated Press; by Maggie Haberman of The New York Times; and by Henry Meyer, Andrey Biryukov, Selcan Hacaoglu, Nicholas Comfort and Onur Ant of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 12/31/2018

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