US likely just weeks away from starting withdrawal of ground troops from Syria

The United States is likely just weeks away from starting the withdrawal of ground troops from Syria ordered by President Donald Trump, the top U.S. commander overseeing American forces in the Middle East said on Sunday.

U.S. Army General Joseph Votel, head of the U.S. military's Central Command, also said he believed troop levels in Iraq would remain broadly steady, adding: "We don't want to keep people on the ground that we don't need and (who) don't have a valid mission."