Stories Related to Syria Says U.s. Informed It Of Planned Attack On Islamists Hours Before Airstrikes

BEIRUT — Syria said on Tuesday that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had told the Damascus government in a letter delivered by Iraq that the United States and its allies were going to attack Islamic State in Syria, hours before the airstrikes took place.Damascus, which had said any airstrikes on Syria must have its approval, did not condemn the attacks launched by the United States with the help of Gulf states and Jordan against Islamic State and al-Qaida-affiliated militants.A Syrian analyst interviewed on tightly-controlled Syrian state TV said the airstrikes did not amount to an act of aggression because the government had been notified in advance.In a government statement read out on state TV, the Syrian foreign ministry said Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem had received a letter from Kerry via the foreign minister of Iraq, whose Shi’ite-led government is a close ally of Damascus.There was no immediate response from the United States, which has shunned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, describing him as part of the problem.“The foreign minister received a letter from his American counterpart via the Iraqi foreign minister, in which he informed him that the United States and some of its allies would target (Islamic State) in Syria,” the foreign ministry said in the statement.