U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national-security adviser John Bolton are heading off on trips to the Middle East as Washington looks to boost relations to help it deal with mounting hot spots in the region.
The State Department said on January 4 that Pompeo will visit eight countries -- Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait – on a trip that starts on January 8.
A senior State Department official who briefed reporters said one of Pompeo's main messages would be that "the United States is not leaving the Middle East."
While in Saudi Arabia, another U.S. official said, Pompeo would raise the case of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi and continue to push for accountability and credibility from the Saudi leadership in the matter.
Bolton is leaving for the region on January 5 and is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before moving on to Turkey, where he will be joined by General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
They will be accompanied in Turkey by veteran diplomat James Jeffrey, the current special representative for Syrian engagement who has just taken on the role of special envoy to the global coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) terror group.
They are expected to pressure Turkish officials not to launch an offensive targeting Kurdish fighters in Syria.
The United States announced plans to pull out its 2,000 troops from Syria, where they have been supporting an alliance of Arab and Kurdish forces fighting IS.
Ankara accuses the Syrian Kurdish fighters of having links to Kurdish insurgents operating in Turkey and has vowed to drive them out of the Turkish-Syrian border area.
Syria, IS, Khashoggi On Agenda For Pompeo, Bolton Middle East Visits
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (right) and national-security adviser John Bolton (file photo)