Syria willing to work with US on terrorism
Print Edition
SYRIA said it was willing to work with the international community, including the United States, to tackle terrorism but that any strikes on its territory must be coordinated with Damascus.
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem made the comments as the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group advances in Syria and neighboring Iraq, where Washington is already carrying out air strikes.
The group, which has declared an Islamic “caliphate” in the territory it holds in Syria and Iraq, has raised international concern and prompted rare unanimous approval of a UN Security Council resolution to tackle jihadists.
“Syria is ready for cooperation and coordination at the regional and international level to fight terrorism and implement UN Security Council Resolution 2170,” Muallem said.
Muallem said Syria was willing to work within international or regional coalitions as well as on bilateral terms.
He said Damascus was also prepared to work with the United States and Britain, both of which back Syrian rebels in their fight to overthrow President Bashar Assad. “They are welcome,” he said.
But he said any military action inside Syrian territory must be carried out in coordination with the government and respect the country’s sovereignty.
“We must feel that the cooperation is serious and not double standards,” he said. “Any violation of Syria’s sovereignty would be an act of aggression.”
Asked if Syria’s air defences could shoot down US planes, he said: “That could happen if there was not prior coordination. We are proposing international cooperation and coordination to prevent” such a scenario.
There would be “no justification” for strikes on Syrian territory “except in coordination with us to fight terrorism.”
The United State began carrying out air strikes in Iraq on August 8, in bid to halt advances close to the Kurdish regional capital Arbil.
But US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey acknowledged last week that IS could not be defeated in Iraq alone. “Can they be defeated without addressing that part of the organization that resides in Syria? The answer is no,” he said.
Meanwhile, a freelance reporter who had been held hostage for nearly two years in Syria was released on Sunday.
Peter Theo Curtis, who wrote under the byline Theo Padnos, was freed, offering consolation to US officials, a journalism community and family members deeply unnerved by the grisly video of James Foley’s beheading in a desolate desert landscape.
Curtis’ release was aided by the oil-rich nation of Qatar, which said that it had “exerted relentless efforts” to win the American’s freedom. Qatar is a leading supporter of the Syrian rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Assad and has been involved in mediating past hostage releases. US Secretary of State John Kerry said Curtis had been held by Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the Nusra Front, an al-Qaida-linked militant group fighting Assad’s government.
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