Syrian DM says U.S.-backed forces to face 2 options

DAMASCUS, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Ali Abdullah Ayyoub, the Syrian defense minister, said Monday that the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will face two options - either to embark on reconciliation with the government or the areas under their control will be retaken by the Syrian army by forces.

Ayyoub made the remarks during a press conference held Monday following his meeting with the chiefs of staff of Iraq and Iran in Damascus.

The Syrian official said that the Syrian state will completely wrest control over all of Syria sooner or later, noting that there will be no inch of Syria out of the government control.

Ayyoub made mention of the Eastern Euphrates River region where the SDF control areas there along with areas in northeastern Syria.

"The only card in the hands of the U.S. and its allies is the SDF and it would be dealt with in accordance with the two ways adopted by the Syrian state either through reconciliation or liberating the areas that they control by force," he said.

He also mentioned Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria, saying that Idlib province will return sooner or later.

"The Syrian state will completely wrest control over all of Syria sooner or later whether through reconciliations or military force and Idlib will not be an exception as it's one of the four de-escalation zones that have been identified. The three other areas have returned to the Syrian state and the same situation will apply to Idlib," he stressed.

The Syrian government has for long said that it would retrieve Idlib from the ultra-radical rebels. However, a planned military campaign was put on hold late last year when Russia, Iran, and Turkey agreed to a demilitarized zone in Idlib.

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the umbrella group of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, was supposed to leave, but on the contrary, it expanded and took control over all of Idlib, which renewed talks about a possible military campaign against the rebels in Idlib in northwestern Syria.

"There will be no inch out of the government control and that has been stressed by the Syrian president more than once. But when and how this is a military matter," Ayyoub said.