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UN efforts to settle Syrian conflict are US top priority

WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (KUNA) -- The United Nations efforts to achieve a political solution in Syria are a matter of "highest priority" for the United States, a State Department official said Friday.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other senior officials "have been working quite closely, on a day-by-day basis" with UN Special Representative Staffan de Mistura and other parties in the region and outside "to see to it that whatever course the UN embarks upon in trying to engage Russian support, in trying to engage the Syrian regime in credible political discussions in Geneva succeed," the official said during a background briefing on Syria.
"This has been a matter of highest priority and importance for the Secretary personally, it's been of importance to all of us here in the building, and we will remain engaged literally day by day with the United Nations to assure that we are doing everything to give them practical support," the official said.
De Mistura has invited the Syrian government and opposition to a special meeting to be held next week in Vienna, Austria.
The US military presence and its activities in Syria are aimed at "ensuring the enduring defeat" of the so-called Islamic State (IS), the official said. However, that US presence "will be conditions-based, not calendar-based," the official said.
IS elements in northern Syria and northern Iraq have moved out of the combat area and are regrouping, the official said.
"They're still a lethal force," the official said. "They still have the potential to disrupt any attempts at stabilization, much less political transformation and transition in Syria. And so the enduring defeat of this malignant presence is an absolute requirement in Syria, as in Iraq, for any future progress." Another issue is the "destructive role" of Iran in Syria, the official said. Iran supports the Assad regime and continues to "engage in activities which we believe present an enduring challenge" beyond the IS fight to include regional states -- including Israel and Jordan -- to US interests and to the interests "of all our friends and allies -- and we need to have a cogent approach to that threat," the official said.
Turning to the concerns of Turkey in Syria, the official said, "We fully understand Turkish concerns about the PKK. It's a terrorist organization. We appreciate that. But we need to stabilize the north, and we very much hope that Turkey works with us and the international community in ways that we think advance Turkish interests.
"We do not believe that a military operation -- whether in Afrin or directed against the Syrian Democratic Forces in the north and northeast of Syria -- serves the cause of regional stability, Syrian stability or indeed Turkish concerns about the security of their border," the official added.
The US wants a UN-led, credible political process, supported by the Syrian people within and outside Syria, that leads to free and fair elections in Syria under UN supervision, the official said.
"That process ought to lead to the departure of this regime," the official said, referring to the regime of Bashar Al Assad. "That's our policy view. We don't see how a free and fair election can produce any other outcome. But that's an end state. It is not a precondition for the political process." (end) rm.gb