SOURCE: REUTERS 

CAIRO (Reuters) – Sending Arab troops to Syria is a possibility that is being discussed by officials from various countries, Egypt’s foreign minister was quoted on Friday as saying.

But a foreign ministry spokesman said Sameh Shoukry, who was speaking at a function on Wednesday night, was not raising the possibility that Egypt itself might be ready to send forces to Syria, adding that such a decision was subject to constitutional constraints.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump was seeking to assemble an Arab force to replace the U.S. military contingent in Syria.

“In regards to the situation in Syria, Shoukry said that the idea of replacing forces with another that may be Arab is a possibility,” Al-Ahram quoted the Egyptian foreign minister as telling journalists.

“This proposition is not only being discussed by the media, but also during discussions and deliberations amongst officials of states to look into how these ideas could contribute to stabilizing Syria,” he added, according to Al-Ahram.

Shoukry did not name the countries discussing the matter. But an Egyptian Foreign Ministry official said Shoukry’s comments did not pertain to Egypt.

“The principles that govern sending Egyptian forces outside the country are known to everybody. That won’t happen unless it was in line with constitutional mechanisms, and rules and regulations that have been affirmed more than once, such as cases related to United Nations peacekeeping operations,” said Ahmed Abu Zeid in a statement.

Saudi Arabia said last month it was open to sending troops to Syria under wider coalition.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in a civil war in Syria between rebels seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

Egypt is the most populous country in the Arab World and has the strongest army.

A U.N. advisor said on Thursday millions of civilians were still caught up in the seven-year-old conflict and many who escaped battle zones had to seek shelter in overcrowded camps for the displaced in Idlib in the northwest.

(This story changes “Thursday” to “Wednesday” in seconnd graph.)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States Navy is re-establishing its Second Fleet, responsible for the northern Atlantic Ocean, nearly seven years after it was disbanded as the Pentagon puts countering Russia at the heart of its military strategy.

“Our National Defense Strategy makes clear that we’re back in an era of great power competition as the security environment continues to grow more challenging and complex,” Chief of U.S. Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson said on Friday.

“Second Fleet will exercise operational and administrative authorities over assigned ships, aircraft and landing forces on the East Coast and northern Atlantic Ocean,” Richardson said.

The command, which will be based in Norfolk, Virginia, will initially have 15 personnel and will eventually grow to over 200 people, officials said. A number of decisions, like who would command Second Fleet and what assets it would include, have not yet been made.

In 2011, the fleet was disbanded for cost-saving and organizational structure reasons.

Since then, however, Russia has become more assertive, flexing its military muscles in conflicts like those in Ukraine and Syria, and tensions between Moscow and Washington have increased.

Earlier this year, the U.S. military said in a new national defense strategy that countering Russia, along with China, would be a priority, the latest sign of shifting priorities after more than a decade and a half of focusing on the fight against Islamist militants.

In presenting the new strategy, which will set priorities for the Pentagon for years to come, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called China and Russia “revisionist powers” that “seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models.”

Russia has increased its naval patrols in the Baltic Sea, the North Atlantic and the Arctic, NATO officials say, although the size of its navy is smaller now than during the Cold War era.

Since taking office last year, President Donald Trump has tried to build stronger ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But relations have instead soured over allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Russia’s alleged poisoning of a former double agent in Britain and Putin’s support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria.

The Pentagon also announced on Friday that it was offering to host a proposed NATO Joint Force Command at its naval facilities in Norfolk.

It was one of two proposed new NATO commands aimed at deterring Russia that the United States and Germany had offered to host.