The Trump administration has approved a plan by Syria’s new leadership to incorporate thousands of foreign jihadist former rebel fighters into the national army, Reuters reported on Monday.

Thomas Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey who was named Trump’s special envoy to Syria last month, told Reuters that it’s better to keep the fighters within a state project than to exclude them.

“I would say there is an understanding, with transparency,” Barrack said.

According to the report, until early May, the demand that Syria exclude foreign fighters from security forces was a main point of contention with the US and other Western countries.

However, following Trump’s trip to the Middle East last month, the White House’s approach to Syria changed sharply. Trump met with Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, lifted Assad-era sanctions on the country, and named Barrack, a close friend, as his special envoy.

Three Syrian defense officials said that about 3,500 foreign fighters, mainly Uyghurs from China and neighboring countries, will join the 84th Syrian army division.

Two sources close to the Syrian defense ministry told Reuters that Syria’s new leadership told Western countries that bringing foreign fighters into the army will prevent them from joining al-Qaeda or Islamic State.

The U.S. State Department and a Syrian government spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

Israel’s Kan News reported that about 15,000 Uyghurs currently live in Syria, of which about 5,000 are jihadist fighters who have fought in Syria’s civil war since 2013. Many of them belong to the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), an Uyghur Islamist organization whose goals are to establish an Islamic state in northwest China and central Asia.

TIP, which is defined as a terrorist organization in China, as well as in the United States, Russia, and other countries, has links to al-Qaeda and affiliated groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Pakistani Taliban. The US has designated it as having received “training and financial assistance” from al-Qaeda.

On a related note, Barrack confirmed on Tuesday that the US has begun to decrease its military presence in Syria, with the ultimate goal of consolidating all US forces on one base.

“We’ve gone from eight bases to five, and now to three,” Barrack told Turkish media. “Eventually, we will have only one.”

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated on Isru Chag in Israel.)