US backs Syrian plan to absorb foreign fighters into national army: Report

The US appears to have backed a plan by the Syrian government to assimilate thousands of foreign rebel fighters into the Syrian national army, Reuters reported on Monday.

An estimated 3,500 foreign fighters, mainly Uighurs from China and Central Asia, would join a new unit called the 84th Syrian army division, also comprised of Syrians, three Syrian defence officials told Reuters.

Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and President Donald Trump's special envoy to Syria, told Reuters that the US government sought transparency and said there was an understanding between the US and Syria.

Later on Tuesday, Barrack praised Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, saying he had taken“meaningful steps” on foreign fighters. Barrack said the two met in Istanbul on Saturday. 

Barrack said it was a better strategy to contain the fighters than exclude them, as many are "very loyal" to the new government. This approach reverses the US’s previous demand that the new leadership exclude foreign fighters.

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The change is seen to be a result of Trump’s visit to the Middle East in May, when he agreed to meet Syria’s new leader and lift the US’s long-term sanctions on Syria.

Syria has been under sanctions since 1979, when the US labelled Damascus a state sponsor of terrorism under the government of Hafez al-Assad, father of deposed Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.

Barrack also told Turkish media that the US would be reducing its military presence in the country.

Foreign fighters

Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and linked groups were instrumental in toppling Bashar last year after a 13-year civil war between rebel groups and the former leader.

HTS was comprised of many Uighurs who mostly came from China during the Syrian civil war and were persecuted in China. Uighurs are one of 55 recognised ethnic minorities in China and are Turkic-speaking. They are largely Sunni Muslims and live in the country’s northwest Xinjiang province, which has had intermittent autonomy over the past few centuries.

Most of the Chinese and Central Asian fighters belong to the Turkistan Islamic Party, designated a terrorist group by China. 

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters that "China hopes that Syria will oppose all forms of terrorism and extremist forces in response to the concerns of the international community."

The Chinese government is accused of detaining more than one million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in the eastern Xinjiang region and subjecting the community to abuses some have labelled a "genocide". China denies all allegations of abuse.

Western powers have been concerned about foreign fighters in Syria. Sharaa has argued that bringing foreign fighters into the national army is less of a security risk than discarding them, as they would be more susceptible to being recruited by al-Qaeda or the Islamic State militant groups.

The National reported that foreign fighters will be granted Syrian citizenship.

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