Syria raps US-led coalition forces, oil losses in UN speech

By JENNIFER PELTZ
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Syria’s top diplomat is pressing for a U.S.-led military coalition to get out of his country. Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad also told the U.N. General Assembly meeting of world leaders on Monday that Damascus wants compensation for losses suffered by its oil and gas industry during an 11-year-long and ongoing civil war. Hundreds of U.S. troops are stationed in eastern Syria to help the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces fight the Islamic State militant group. Mekdad said the coalition’s presence contradicts international law and should end immediately. The civil war began in 2011 with anti-government protests demanding democratic reforms but quickly escalated into fighting. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed.