An Iraqi soldier stands next to a detained man accused of being an Islamic State fighter, at a check point in Qayyara, south of Mosul, Iraq. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said on Monday a U.S.-led coalition was encouraging Islamic State fighters to move from Iraq to Syria.

Speaking after talks with his Russian and Iranian counterparts in Moscow, Muallem said the coalition wanted the fighters to move from Iraq’s Mosul to Syria’s Raqqa, the de facto capital of the radical Sunni group in Syria.