"The Timing Couldn't Be Worse": Former Foreign Secretary Slams Trump Syria Pullout
23 December 2018, 13:59 | Updated: 23 December 2018, 16:12
Former Foreign Secretary, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, has condemned US President Donald Trump for his decision to withdraw troops from Syria.
Sir Malcolm Rifkind has slammed Donald Trump for his decision to pull troop out of Syria, after a top US official resigned over the decision last night.
President Trump pledged to withdraw 2,000 US troops on Wednesday, claiming that Islamic State (IS) had been defeated.
But Lord Rifkind insists that the terrorist group remains a threat in the region.
He said: "There are still thousands of IS terrorists in Syria and no doubt elsewhere.
"If the United States leaves and creates a vacuum then, as we know, nature doesn't like vacuums and it gets filled with other things."
It follows the resignation of Brett McGurk, the US envoy to the global coalition fighting IS, on Saturday, having previously said it would be "reckless" to consider the militant group defeated.
