G7 talks focus on Syria
Pressure for political solution rises after chemicals attack
THE United States will hold anyone who commits crimes against humanity responsible, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said yesterday, days after the US military unexpectedly attacked Syria.
Tillerson is in Tuscany, Italy, for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialised nations, with his counterparts from Europe, Canada and Japan eager for clarity from Washington on numerous diplomatic issues, especially Syria.
Before Friday’s missile strikes on a Syrian airbase, US President Donald Trump had indicated he would be less interventionist than his predecessors and willing to overlook human rights abuses if it was in US interests.
But Tillerson said the US would not let such crimes go unchallenged.
“We rededicate ourselves to holding to account any and all who commit crimes against the innocents anywhere in the world,” he said while commemorating a 1944 German Nazi massacre in Sant’Anna di Stazzema.
Trump ordered his military to strike Syria in retaliation for what the US said was a chemical weapons attack by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces which killed scores of civilians, including many children.
European ministers are eager to hear whether Washington is now committed to overthrowing al-Assad, who is backed by Russia.
They also want the US to put pressure on Moscow to distance itself from al-Assad.
Tillerson, who travels to Russia after the two-day G7 gathering for talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, said at the weekend the defeat of the Islamic State remained the US priority, while US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said regime change in Syria was also a Trump priority.
The mixed messages have confused and frustrated European allies, eager for full US support for a political solution based on a transfer of power in Damascus.
Italy, Germany, France and Britain have invited foreign ministers from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Qatar to sit down with the G7 group this morning to discuss Syria. All oppose al-Assad’s rule.
The foreign ministers’ discussions in Tuscany will prepare the way for a leaders’ summit in Sicily at the end of next month.
The diplomats’ meeting had initially been expected to focus on talks with Tillerson about hotspots like Libya, Iran and Ukraine, but the agenda is now likely to be dominated by Syria.
The G7 foreign ministers were to send a clear and coordinated message to Russia over its stance on Syria.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson described al-Assad as toxic and said it was “time for [Russian President] Vladimir Putin to face the truth about the tyrant he is propping up”.
French Foreign Minister JeanMarc Ayrault said the pressing task for the G7 was to find a political solution in Syria, particularly if the West wanted to triumph over IS.
Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said he told Tillerson that Tokyo supported the US in its push to deter the spread and use of chemical weapons, and discussed the pressing North Korean nuclear threat.