CAIRO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The United States is committed to the stability of the Middle East region and U.S. ties with Egypt are getting stronger, the U.S. charge d'affaires in Egypt told Xinhua in an interview on Saturday.
"The United States is very committed to the stability of the region and to remain engaged in the region and supporting the forces in the region," Thomas Goldberger, Chief of Mission and Charge d'Affaires of the United States in Egypt, said.
Goldberger's remarks came amid Washington's plan to withdraw its troops from war-torn Syria and the recent statement of U.S. President Donald Trump that a small fraction of U.S. forces would remain in Syria with troops from other countries.
There are currently about 2,000 U.S. troops deployed in Syria, and the White House said Thursday that Washington would leave 200 peacekeeping troops in Syria after the planned pullout.
Trump announced last December the intention for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria after declaring victory over the Islamic State (IS) group, which led to the resignation of then U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
Washington's decision to keep troops in Syria came several days after its European allies reportedly turned down a U.S. request to fill in the gap with their troops.
"There's not yet withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria. We're fighting to finish the work there in Syria and we're looking for political settlement that brings up peace and stability to Syria," Goldberger said.
The U.S. diplomat added that Washington is working for regional peace and stability like Egypt.
Egypt, a key regional ally of the United States, has a U.S.-brokered deal treaty with Israel since 1979.
Ties between Cairo and Washington were cold under former U.S. President Barack Obama, but they improved after Donald Trump came to office.
"We have very strong bilateral relations with Egypt for a long time and they're getting stronger all the time," Goldberger told Xinhua.
