Syrian gov't vows to hold U.S. officials accountable for destabilizing Syria

DAMASCUS, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Syria said on Wednesday that the U.S. officials seeking to destabilize Syria must be held accountable, in response to the vow by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to hold the Syrian government accountable for "human rights violations and abuses."

"The American officials who used unlimited funds to destroy Syria and shed the blood of its people must be held accountable," the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Without funding, support, and armament from the United States of America and its Western allies, the armed terrorist organizations would not have been able to commit massacres against the Syrians and destroy their infrastructure and civilization," it said.

The ministry stressed that lasting peace in Syria could not be achieved amid the presence of U.S. forces on Syrian soil.

The statement came in response to a press statement issued by Blinken on Monday, in which he said Washington will continue to support the international efforts "to ensure there are consequences for the ongoing human rights violations and abuses committed in Syria."

"The U.S. Secretary of State, or the ex-secretaries, couldn't wash their hands stained with Syrians' blood ... in addition to the theft of Syrian resources estimated at nearly 30 billion U.S. dollars that the U.S. should pay to the Syrians," the Syrian foreign ministry said.