Al-Moallem: Syria at the heart of the international coalition against the Islamic State

Syria has announced its readiness to cooperate with the international effort to fight the Islamic State, after the US announced that it is considering expanding its operations against the militant group into Syrian territories.

Al-Alam Online news website reported that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moallem, whose government has been ignored by Western powers, spoke about his country as a vital partner against the Islamic State, which has seized control of parts of Syria and Iraq.

In a press conference broadcast by Syrian state television, Al-Moallem said that both geographically and in terms of operations management, Syria is at the heart of the international coalition to fight the Islamic State and called on concerned countries to coordinate with his government if they are serious in the fight against terrorism.

When asked about the possibility of launching air strikes on the Islamic State inside Syrian territories, Al-Moallem said that his government is ready to cooperate with any country fighting Islamic State militants, but warned that air strikes waged without the consent of Damascus would be considered an act of aggression.

The White House hinted on Friday that the US is considering extending the fight against the Islamic State into Syrian territories. Over the past few weeks, the US has been waging air strikes against the Islamic State in Iraq, leading to the execution of an American journalist at the hands of the group’s fighters.

But Washington also supports the Syrian opposition’s three-year-long campaign against President Bashar Al-Assad and there are no signs of any change in US policy.

In an interview last week, the deputy national security adviser to US President Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes, stated that the Syrian president “is part of the problem”. Last year, Washington was on the verge of bombing Syria after Al-Assad’s forces were accused of waging a chemical attack on Syrian civilians, killing hundreds.

The Islamic State, which broke with Al-Qaeda, became the strongest faction fighting against Al-Assad and now controls almost a third of the north and east of Syria. It has also captured large areas in Iraq, declaring an “Islamic caliphate” in the territory it controls.