Syria says U.S. informed it of planned attack on Islamists hours before air strikes

By Mariam Karouny and Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) - 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 air strikes took place. Damascus, which had said any air strikes 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 Qaeda-affiliated militants. A Syrian analyst interviewed on tightly-controlled Syrian state TV said the air strikes 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. "That was hours before the raids started." In the statement, Damascus vowed to keep up its own campaign against Islamic State that has seized large areas of northern and eastern Syria. It said it would continue to target the group in areas hit in the U.S.-led raids on Tuesday. The U.S. military, in a statement announcing air strikes on Islamists in Syria, said U.S. forces had also struck Islamic State targets in Iraq, "using attack aircraft to conduct four air strikes". Russia, one of Assad's major allies, criticized the U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State, saying they should have been agreed with Damascus. But there was no sign of criticism in Syria's state-run media. "THERE IS A COMMON ENEMY" The Syrian government statement points to the scope for Iraq to act as a channel for indirect contact between Damascus and Washington, even as the United States and its allies shun Assad. Iraq's national security adviser briefed Assad on efforts to fight Islamic State last week, in the first such meeting since the United States launched air strikes on Islamic State in Iraq. The Syrian government said coordination with Iraq was "at its highest levels" and reiterated its willingness to be part of international efforts to combat Islamic State. "Syria confirms that it has fought and continues to fight (Islamic State) in Raqaa and Deir al-Zor and other areas," the statement said. "It has not and will not stop fighting the organization in cooperation with states directly harmed by it - most importantly with Iraq," the government statement said. A senior Lebanese politician with close ties to the Syrian government said the Syrian government statement pointed to U.S. coordination with Damascus, though the United States would not be able to publicly say that was happening. "It is certain that if these air strikes are serious, they will strengthen the enemies of (Islamic State), at the forefront of whom is the Syrian regime," said the politician. The analyst interviewed on Syrian state TV said the notification meant the air strikes were neither an act of aggression nor an infringement of Syrian sovereignty. "All the targets and warplanes were monitored by the Syrian air defense," said the analyst, Ali al-Ahmad. "This does not mean we are part of the joint operations room, and we are not part of the alliance. But there is a common enemy," he said. (Addditional reporting by Sylvia Westall/Tom Perry; Writing by Tom Perry, editing by Peter Millership)