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Syria
A US military vehicle drives past an oil well in northeastern Syria. Photo: Delil Souleiman/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region –Syria may pursue legal action against the US government for “stealing” oil, said a top Syrian presidential aide on Wednesday.
"I reveal it for the first time that we are studying possible legal procedures we can take at an international level in order to file a lawsuit against the United States of America because it definitely steals Syrian oil and violates Syrian sovereignty,” Bouthaina Shaaban, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s political and media advisor, told pro-Hezbollah Mayadeen TV.
US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of most US troops in Syria in October, days before Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria.
Prior to the withdrawal, the US had backed the SDF in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) since 2014. Trump later said that the US would leave some troops deployed in Syria alongside the SDF to secure oilfields in eastern Syria.
"I like oil, we're keeping the oil,” Trump said one month later.
The US President was referring to oilfields in Syria’s eastern Deir Ez-Zor Province which came under the control of the SDF in 2017 after years of ISIS reign. The province is believed to hold about three-quarters of Syria’s oil and gas reserves. ISIS was heavily dependent on revenue from Deir Ez-Zor’s oil wells to pay its fighters.
When announcing the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakir al-Baghdadi in late October, Trump said that the US had “taken and secured” the Syrian oil in recent years.
He added that during the US invasion of Iraq he called for selling off Iraq’s oil to defray the large cost of war. “I said keep the oil … If they are going into Iraq, keep the oil. They never did. They never did.”
US officials have claimed that their presence near the oilfields will prevent ISIS, Syria and Iran from taking control of the wells.
Asked if the US presence in northeast Syria is only for the oil, SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi told Rudaw in early November that the US presence was for “another project.”
“The main reason behind [the US presence] is definitely not oil. Everyone knows the US does not need the oil. They say that this oil should not fall into the hands of Daesh [Islamic State], the Syrian regime or other forces,” he said.
“The Americans want to stay here to take part in the balance. They are also staying to lessen the pressure on the US administration,” he added, referring to the backlash the Trump administration faced for the decision to withdraw some 1,000 troops.
The withdrawal was widely viewed as a green light to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to go ahead with his country's long-awaited operation against the SDF, and drew condemnation from Kurdish leaders as well as many politicians and government leaders in the United States and Europe.
While hundreds of US troops are still in SDF-controlled areas and significant portions of Syrian territory are controlled by the SDF, Turkey, and various opposition groups in Syria’s long and bloody civil war, the Syrian presidential aide claimed in her interview with Mayadeen TV that, “The Syrian oil and soil will be liberated from Americans, Turks and all others.”
"I reveal it for the first time that we are studying possible legal procedures we can take at an international level in order to file a lawsuit against the United States of America because it definitely steals Syrian oil and violates Syrian sovereignty,” Bouthaina Shaaban, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s political and media advisor, told pro-Hezbollah Mayadeen TV.
US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of most US troops in Syria in October, days before Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria.
Prior to the withdrawal, the US had backed the SDF in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) since 2014. Trump later said that the US would leave some troops deployed in Syria alongside the SDF to secure oilfields in eastern Syria.
"I like oil, we're keeping the oil,” Trump said one month later.
The US President was referring to oilfields in Syria’s eastern Deir Ez-Zor Province which came under the control of the SDF in 2017 after years of ISIS reign. The province is believed to hold about three-quarters of Syria’s oil and gas reserves. ISIS was heavily dependent on revenue from Deir Ez-Zor’s oil wells to pay its fighters.
When announcing the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakir al-Baghdadi in late October, Trump said that the US had “taken and secured” the Syrian oil in recent years.
He added that during the US invasion of Iraq he called for selling off Iraq’s oil to defray the large cost of war. “I said keep the oil … If they are going into Iraq, keep the oil. They never did. They never did.”
US officials have claimed that their presence near the oilfields will prevent ISIS, Syria and Iran from taking control of the wells.
Asked if the US presence in northeast Syria is only for the oil, SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi told Rudaw in early November that the US presence was for “another project.”
“The main reason behind [the US presence] is definitely not oil. Everyone knows the US does not need the oil. They say that this oil should not fall into the hands of Daesh [Islamic State], the Syrian regime or other forces,” he said.
“The Americans want to stay here to take part in the balance. They are also staying to lessen the pressure on the US administration,” he added, referring to the backlash the Trump administration faced for the decision to withdraw some 1,000 troops.
The withdrawal was widely viewed as a green light to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to go ahead with his country's long-awaited operation against the SDF, and drew condemnation from Kurdish leaders as well as many politicians and government leaders in the United States and Europe.
While hundreds of US troops are still in SDF-controlled areas and significant portions of Syrian territory are controlled by the SDF, Turkey, and various opposition groups in Syria’s long and bloody civil war, the Syrian presidential aide claimed in her interview with Mayadeen TV that, “The Syrian oil and soil will be liberated from Americans, Turks and all others.”
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