Syria Mulls Suing US in International Court Over 'Stealing' Country's Oil

The US recently announced its intent to stay in the Arab Republic in order to "keep the oil" and channel revenues from it to the local Kurdish militia, despite protests from Damascus.

Syria is considering filing an international suit against the American government over its actions in the eastern part of the country, Syrian presidential adviser Bouthaina Shaaban said in an interview with Al-Mayadeen TV.

"Syria is looking into the possibility of filing an international lawsuit against the United States, due to the fact that they steal Syrian oil", she said.

Previously, Syrian Ambassador to UN Bashar al-Ja'afari accused the US of stealing the country's national resources during one of the international body's meetings, also slamming the UN's lack of action on the matter.

"The US occupies Syrian oil wells and plunders the Syrians' revenues in the shadow of the UN Security Council's silence", the ambassador said.

US President Donald Trump announced in October 2019 that the US will be withdrawing its forces from the Arab Republic, but eventually backtracked. He stated that a "small" US contingency would stay behind to "keep the oil". POTUS also claimed that the revenues from the oil would go to fund the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces and their militia.

The decision was harshly condemned by Damascus and Moscow, who accused Washington of illegally seizing the oil fields and stealing the country's natural resources.