News Analysis: Islamic State threat could open door for US-Syria cooperation

DAMASCUS (Xinhua) - The growing threat of the Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and the region may open the door for a US-Syrian cooperation, which is deemed crucial by local analysts to put an end to the growing threat of the IS.

The recent development in the region has deepened the conviction that the United States and Syria may have a chance to cooperate in combating the IS, whose presence in Syria is no less threatening than in Iraq.

In Iraq, the United States has started to aid the Kurds against the IS offensive, while  US officials has also spoken ever laud and clear about the need to strike the extremist militants in Syria.

The UN Security Council has recently agreed on a resolution aiming to chock off the flow of cash and fighters to the IS under the Chapter No.7 of the UN charter, which opens the door for military means in case the resolution fail to be implemented.

Even though the United States and Syrian officials have yet to overtly speak out about possible cooperation, local political analysts agreed that cooperation between the two sides is necessary to restrain the IS militants.

"I think that the presence of (the) IS has created a room for cooperation between the US and Syria, and in my opinion the cooperation has become a necessity for the United States on one hand and for the region on the other hand because this threat can' t be tolerated or even manipulated," Bassam Abu-Abdullah, a political researcher, said on Saturday.

"The IS has become a force and a player that has potentials, money and oil and is now moving in a geographic space that poses a threat to the US interests and its allies," he said, adding that the IS would be the bridge on which settlements for regional crisis could be reached.

Last week, Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said his country welcomes the international cooperation in its anti- terror fight, stressing that terrorism can't be fought except with an international coordination because its cross-border feature.

He added that international coordination should be based on agreements and resolutions, stressing that any unilateral action would be considered as interference in other country's domestic affairs.

Maher Murhej, a political figure and head of the Syrian Youth Party, didn't shun aside the possibility of cooperation between both countries, noting however that the cooperation could be on the intelligence level only.

"I personally don't think that the Syrian government would agree to have the same Iraqi scenario on its soil, meaning that it wouldn't sanction US airstrikes on Syrian soil akin to what it currently going on in Iraq," he said, referring to maintaining the sovereignty of Syria.

Murhej expressed skepticism about the US intentions, saying that "I also think that the United States is not really serious about fighting the IS in Syria. What they are trying to do is to push the IS fighters out of Iraq and place them all in Syria so that later they can pave the way for a future resolution that would allow international intervention in Syria."

For his part, Mahmoud Muri, a Syrian opposition figure, said that both Syria and United States have to cooperate on intelligence and military levels, stressing that the military cooperation is even more crucial than the intelligence one.

"I think the military one is more important because the IS doesn't understand but the language of killing, destruction and weapons." he said.

All three analysts agreed that cooperation in the first stage could be done indirectly through a mediator that has good relations with both countries, such as the new Iraqi government as both Syria and Iraq are directly facing the threat of the IS.

The Islamic State, previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, has recently proclaimed it established an " Islamic Caliphate" in parts of Syria and Iraq, threatening the political geography of the region.

The group, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who is said to have command over 70,000 fighters, said their goal is to establish an Islamic state in Iraq and Syria, not shunning aside expanding more into other Arab countries.