SPD leader rejects any German role in war in Syria

BERLIN: The leader of Germany’s Social Democrats said her party would not approve any participation of Germany in the war in Syria, opening a potential new line of conflict in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s loveless coalition government.

SPD leader Andrea Nahles issued a terse statement after the Bild newspaper reported that Germany’s conservative-led defence ministry was examining possible options for joining US, British and French forces in any future military action if the Syrian government again used chemical weapons.

“The SPD will not agree – either in parliament or in the government – to the participation of Germany in the war in Syria,” Nahles said. “We support the foreign minister in his efforts to avert a humanitarian crisis through discussions with Turkey and Russia.”

Bild reported that a senior German defence official had met the newly arrived US defence attache last month to discuss possible German support for a military alliance against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Russian and Syrian jets and helicopters resumed intensive strikes in Idlib and Hama as Damascus stepped up its assault on the last major stronghold of rebel forces.

Bild said German and US officials had discussed various options, including the possibility that German fighter jets could help with battle damage assessments, or drop bombs for the first time since the war in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

German participation in any military action remains a sensitive and deeply unpopular topic given the country’s Nazi past. Participation in any military strikes in Syria would also put Germany on a direct collision course with Assad’s main backer, Russia, for the first time. — Reuters