NewsRescue
Syria has urged the United Nations to take action against the United States for its occupation of portions of Syrian territory and illegal extraction of natural resources in those areas, according to the state-run SANA news agency.
Damascus also requested restitution from Washington for what it called the “plunder” of the country’s gas and oil.
SANA highlighted a letter addressed by Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as well as Albania, which has the UN Security Council president in September, in an article published on Sunday. In it, Syrian diplomats urged the international body to stop the US from violating international law and the UN Charter by illegally stationing forces in the northeast and southeast.
Aside from that, the ministry stated that Washington and allied extremist groups are also guilty of stealing the country’s “wealth and strategic resources.”
According to the letter’s estimations, the US military caused $115.2 billion in direct and indirect harm to Syria’s oil and mineral riches sector between 2011 and 2023.
The letter concluded by demanding that “American officials be held accountable for these thefts and that the American administration be forced to compensate for them.” It also called for the withdrawal of all American military personnel from Syria and the return of all its oil and gas fields to government control.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, projected late last month that the US military presence in the country would remain for the foreseeable future. In an interview with Jordan’s Al-Mamlaka TV, he stated that Washington will never “walk away from the Middle East.” Milley emphasized the threat presented by Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS) remains in the region. He also admitted that oil is one of the main reasons the US would remain in the region.
Syria fell into turmoil in 2011 as opposition organizations rose up against President Bashar Assad’s regime. In 2015, Assad urged Russia’s military to help him combat the Islamic State.