Washington Sees Daesh as Ally to Be Used for Regime Change in Syria – Lavrov

• Washington Sees Daesh as Ally to Be Used for Regime Change in Syria – Lavrov
  by https://sputniknews.com/
  Earlier, US special representative for Syria engagement James Jeffrey claimed that the Syrian government was responsible for creating Daesh (ISIS),* which he said was trying to “protect people…from the depradations of the Assad regime.”
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  The United States is using Daesh as a pretext for continuing its illegal presence in Syria, and regards the terrorist group almost like an ally for carrying out regime change in the Arab Republic, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday.
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  “The US State Department has declared that Daesh has not been completely defeated, and that the main condition for its defeat is regime change in Syria and the withdrawal of any Iranian or pro-Iranian units from the country. This confirms my theory that the Americans view Daesh as an excuse for their presence in Syria and almost as an ally in the fight against the Syrian regime. In other words, the main task now is regime change, not defeating Daesh,” Lavrov said, speaking in Lisbon after meeting with his Portuguese counterpart Augusto Santos Silva.
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  Backing up this assessment, Lavrov pointed out that the main remaining hotbed of Daesh activity in Syria is now situated in territories “controlled by the United States — on the East Bank of the Euphrates River.”
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  This also includes the area around the settlement of At-Tanf in southern Syria, “where the United States has illegally created a zone which they control with a radius of 55 km,” he said. “Inside this zone are several thousands bandits, whom the US regards as off-limits, allowing the Americans to make excuses for their presence, including in this particular territory.”
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  Commenting on the recent statement by UK Chief of General Staff Mark Carleton-Smith that Russia posed a “far greater threat” to British national security than Daesh or al-Qaeda, Lavrov said that Russia couldn’t “forbid anyone” from “demonstrating their intellectual and political capabilities.”
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  “I heard about this statement, and have heard many statements of this kind from Britain’s minister of defence,” Lavrov added, noting Russia couldn’t influence the decisions of the British government “regarding whom they trust to lead their armed forces.”
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