Khaberni - Sources told "Reuters" that the United States is preparing to establish a military presence at an air base in the Syrian capital, in a move aimed at supporting a security agreement being mediated by Washington between Syria and Israel.
The base is strategically located as an entrance to areas in southern Syria expected to be part of a demilitarized zone within a non-aggression agreement being negotiated between Syria and Israel under the mediation of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.
Trump is scheduled to meet his Syrian counterpart Ahmad al-Shar` in the White House next Monday, in the first visit of a Syrian president there.
Six sources familiar with the preparations at the base, including two Western officials and an official in the Syrian Defense Ministry, said the United States plans to use the base to monitor the implementation of the potential agreement between the two sides.
An official in the American administration said that Washington "continuously assesses its necessary positioning in Syria to ensure the effectiveness of its efforts in combating ISIS," adding that they do not comment on the locations of their forces deployment for operational security reasons.
The official requested that the name or location of the base not be disclosed.
A Western military official explained that the U.S. Department of War had accelerated its preparations in the past two months, conducting several reconnaissance missions that concluded the base's long runway is ready for immediate use.
Two Syrian military sources confirmed that the technical talks focus on using the base for logistical purposes and monitoring and fueling operations, as well as humanitarian operations, with Syria maintaining full sovereignty over the facility.
An official in the Syrian Defense Ministry indicated that American military transport aircraft type C-130 had landed at the base to test the runway's suitability, while a security guard at the base entrance reported that American aircraft had been landing there as part of "technical tests."
It is not yet known when American military personnel will be sent to the base.
These plans seem to reflect two other models of U.S. military presence in the region, where the United States monitors from Lebanon the ceasefire agreement between "Hezbollah" and Israel, and from inside Israel the truce agreement between the "Hamas" movement and Tel Aviv reached under Trump's era.
The United States currently maintains forces in northeastern Syria to support the Kurdish forces in fighting ISIS, in a mission ongoing for about a decade. The Pentagon had announced in April last year its intention to reduce the number of those forces to about a thousand soldiers.
Al-Shar` said any presence of U.S. forces must be pursuant to an agreement with the new Syrian state. According to officials from both sides, Syria is preparing to join soon the international alliance led by Washington against ISIS.
A source familiar with the talks said the issue of the base was discussed during the visit of Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), to Damascus on September 12 last year.
A statement issued by the Central Command at that time stated that Cooper and the U.S. envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, met President al-Shar` and thanked him for his country's contribution to fighting ISIS, affirming that these efforts contribute to achieving "President Trump's vision for a prosperous Middle East and a stable Syria living in peace with itself and its neighbors," without referring to Israel in the statement.
Washington has been working for several months to reach a security agreement between Israel and Syria, and had hoped to announce the agreement during the United Nations General Assembly meetings in September last year, but the negotiations stumbled at the last moment.
A Syrian source familiar with the talks said that the United States is putting pressure on Damascus to reach the agreement before the end of the year, possibly before President al-Shar`'s anticipated visit to Washington.
