STORY: Syria accuses U.S. of stealing natural resources
DATELINE: Aug. 4, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:49
LOCATION: Damascus
CATEGORY: POLITICS
 
SHOTLIST:
1. STANDUP (English): HUMMAM SHEIKH ALI, Xinhua correspondent
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): OSAMA DANURA, Syrian political researcher
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): MUHAMMAD AL-OMARI, Syrian political expert
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Arabic): RAMI KHADRA, Syrian citizen
5. various of Syrian oil field
6. various of the stolen oil by US in fuel tankers in the northeastern province of Hasakah
7. various of the U.S. forces convoys in the northeastern province of Hasakah
8. various of fuel queue in Syria
9. various of wheat harvest in Hasakah
10. various of Syrian waiting at the bread queue
11. various of Syrian buying daily needs
 
STORYLINE:
 
STANDUP (English): HUMMAM SHEIKH ALI, Xinhua correspondent
"13 years have passed since the beginning of the Syrian crisis. The actual battles between the government forces and the Western-backed rebels have largely ended or become limited. People thought their suffering would end when the guns get cold. It turned out, however, that the war was not only about guns and bullets and that there is a more vicious side to the war: it's the economic siege. Today, Syria is going through a very harsh economic hardship, with a deterioration in the value of the national currency that led to skyrocketing prices and unprecedented inflation rates, among others. Analysts and government statements suggest that the main cause of such a predicament is the U.S. strategy, as not only did Washington send troops to take over key energy and food-rich areas in eastern Syria, but it also imposed a set after a set of suffocating economic sanctions that have wreaked havoc in all aspect of life in the country. 
They are not just mere accusations. The government has offered data showing the impact of what it described as U.S. looting of natural resources in Syria.
The head of the state-run Syrian Petroleum Company Farhan Jamil Abdullah told Xinhua recently that as a result of the U.S. sanctions and military presence in the country, oil production had dropped from 385,000 barrels per day before the crisis to the present level of 15,000, while gas production from 30 million cubic meters per day to 10 million cubic meters now.
Also recently, Syrian Oil Minister Firas Hassan Kaddour revealed that the losses in the oil, gas, and mineral sectors in Syria are close to 100 billion U.S. dollars.
While the U.S. seems to have no moral qualms toward the humanitarian situation in Syria, data from international organizations show that over 90 percent of Syrians live below the poverty line. At least 12 million Syrians, more than half the population, cannot access or afford enough quality food, and at least 15 million Syrians across Syria require some form of humanitarian aid to meet their basic needs, making Syria the recipient of one of the world's largest humanitarian responses."
 
SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): OSAMA DANURA, Syrian political researcher
"The unilateral sanctions are a U.S. practice that largely damaged the Syrian State. The Syrian people were deprived of their oil and food resources and in turn, the economic circle in Syria has been damaged by such unilateral measures. This matter has caused large numbers of Syrian citizens to fall under the poverty line, and others far below the poverty line."
 
SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): MUHAMMAD AL-OMARI, Syrian political expert
"One of the ugliest images of the U.S. violations of human rights in Syria was stealing the oil derivatives from the national resources in Syria in addition to using the starvation tactic through stealing agricultural harvest or even burning the harvests or preventing the farmers from having access to their lands and thus this had posed a violation of human rights. The United States of America wanted to use the starvation tactic and to steal the Syrian resources and thus starve the Syrian people."
 
SOUNDBITE 3 (Arabic): RAMI KHADRA, Syrian citizen
"From the way they are controlling the oil fields, the wheat and the food basket in general as well as imposing the unjust sanctions on the Syrian people and affecting the livelihood to exert pressure on the Syrian people, we can sense that the U.S. doesn't care about the human rights or democracies in other countries, all it wants is to polish its policies and achieve the interests it needs."
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Damascus.
(XHTV)