WASHINGTON, March 12 —The United States on Tuesday hailed an agreement in Syria to integrate institutions of the autonomous Kurdish region into the national government.

"The United States welcomes the recently announced agreement between the Syrian interim authorities and the Syrian Democratic Forces to integrate the northeast into a unified Syria,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, referring to the Kurdish-led, US-allied SDF force.

Syria’s new authorities under interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa have sought to disband armed groups and establish government control over the entirety of the country since ousting long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December after more than 13 years of civil war.

On Monday, the Syrian presidency announced an agreement with the head of the Kurdish-dominated SDF to integrate the autonomous Kurdish administration that has governed much of the northeast for the past decade into the national government.

In recent years the United States allied with the SDF as a partner to battle the Islamic State extremist group, irritating Turkey, which links the fighters to militants at home. — AFP