In an interview with The Associated Press in the Kurdish-administered town of Kobani, Ilham Ahmed said the U.S. role in the fight against IS must not end with the liberation of the Raqqa but should continue as a guarantor of stability until a political future for the war-torn country is charted.
"If the Americans want to protect the security of these areas and protect their (own) country from terrorism, they must continue until a democratic system is built in Syria," Ahmed said. She said the U.S. should recognise that the crisis in Syria is not only about defeating IS but also about building a democratic system that protects against radical groups taking over again.
Ahmed is the co-president of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political wing of the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force. She is also a senior politician in the increasingly powerful Kurdish group that declared areas of self-administration in northern Syria last year.
The U.S. has up to 1,000 troops in Syria mostly involved in training and advising some groups. When asked when US forces currently offering advice and training to the Kurdish-led troops in the battle will leave, Ahmed said she did not know, but added that they must continue to have a role until the contours of a future Syria take shape.
She said the Kurdish-led efforts to establish "civil administrations" in areas liberated from Islamic State will offer "a model" for other areas in Syria, by allowing local groups to elect civil councils to administer themselves.
Ahmed said her group's effort needs U.S. political and financial support for the reconstruction of Raqqa but also for the legitimacy of her group's effort in creating the new political structure.
