The US is preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in Damascus to help enable a security pact that Washington is brokering between Syria and Israel, six sources familiar with the matter said.
The US plans for the presence in the Syrian capital, which have not previously been reported, would be a sign of Syria’s strategic realignment with the US following the fall last year of longtime leader Bashar Al Assad, an ally of Iran.
The base sits at the gateway to parts of southern Syria that are expected to make up a demilitarised zone as part of a non-aggression pact between Israel and Syria. That deal is being mediated by US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Trump will meet Syrian President Ahmed Al Sharaa at the White House on Monday, the first such visit by a Syrian head of state.
Reuters spoke to sources familiar with preparations at the base, including two Western officials and a Syrian defence official, who confirmed the US was planning to use the base to help monitor a potential Israel-Syria agreement.
After publication, a Syrian foreign ministry source denied the Reuters report, saying it was “false”, state news agency SANA reported yesterday. The source did not elaborate on what was false.
“Work is underway to transfer the partnerships and understandings that were necessarily made with provisional entities to Damascus, within the framework of joint political, military and economic co-ordination,” SANA added, citing the source.
A US administration official said the US was “constantly evaluating our necessary posture in Syria to effectively combat ISIS and (we) do not comment on locations or possible locations of (where) forces operate.”
The official requested that the name and location of the base be removed for operational security reasons.
A Western military official said the Pentagon had accelerated its plans over the last two months with several reconnaissance missions to the base. Those missions concluded the base’s long runway was ready for immediate use.
Syrian military sources said the talks have been focused on the use of the base for logistics, surveillance, refuelling and humanitarian operations, while Syria would retain full sovereignty over the facility.
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