UK AND FRANCE BACKED ‘LIMITED AND TARGETED’ STRIKES ON SYRIA
▶ British prime minister says attacks with US were designed to deter use of chemical weapons
Britain and France supported limited air strikes against Syria to avoid worsening the regional conflict and send a warning to Moscow about the use of banned chemical weapons, leaders said yesterday.
The leaders of the two countries and US president Donald Trump agreed a “limited, targeted and effective” strike against three targets near Homs and Damascus to avoid civilian casualties, British Prime Minister Theresa May said.
The decision followed discussions with her advisers about the legality of the military action, she said.
“This was not about interfering in a civil war,” Mrs May said. “And it was not about regime change.”
The prime minister , who did not seek approval from parliament before the attack, said that the reaction was a direct response to the use of chemical weapons by the regime of Bashar Al Assad.
She said it was clear his regime was responsible for the attack in the rebel-held town of Douma last Saturday, which killed 75 people.
In parliament tomorrow, Mrs May will seek to justify ordering the strikes. Her predecessor David Cameron aborted plans to attack Syria in 2013 after he tried, and failed, to secure parliamentarians’ backing for air strikes. MPs have been on holiday during the run-up to the attack.
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has opposed British military action throughout his career, described the Syrian attack as “legally questionable.” The prime minister “should have sought parliamentary approval, not trailed after Donald Trump,” he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the strikes had been limited to Syria’s chemical weapons plants despite reports from pro-Assad commanders of attacks on other targets in the country. France released a report that said the Syrian government was to blame for the poison gas attack on Douma, the last holdout for anti-Assad rebels near Damascus.
“We cannot tolerate the normalisation of the use of chemical weapons,” Mr Macron said in launching French military action, calling that “an immediate danger to the Syrian people and for our collective security.”
But he was criticised from across the political spectrum for supporting Mr Trump. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Front, said that the strikes exposed France to “unpredictable and potentially dramatic consequences”.
Mrs May said early signs indicated that the air strikes by the three countries had been successful and sent a message to the Assad regime and its allies that the use of chemical weapons would not be tolerated.
She said that diplomatic efforts had been blocked by Russia and the three countries were left with little alternative.
“As I discussed with President Trump and President Macron, it was a limited, targeted and effective strike with clear boundaries that expressly sought to avoid escalation and did everything possible to prevent civilian casualties,” Mrs May said.
She said that the strikes were also intended to send a message to Russia about “deterring the barbaric use of chemical weapons in Syria and beyond”.
A nerve agent attack in the British city of Salisbury last month severely injured a Russian former spy and his daughter. The UK has blamed Russia for the incident, sparking unprecedented global action against Moscow and the expulsion of diplomats by dozens of countries.
France said that its immediate objectives had been met and it would push ahead with planned talks with Russia to seek peace.
“I think the lesson will have been learnt,” Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Foreign Minister, told BFM TV.
European support came from the leaders of Italy, Spain and Germany.
“The military strike was necessary and appropriate to preserve the effectiveness of the international ban on the use of chemical weapons,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
Donald Tusk, the head of the council of EU leaders, said the bloc would stand with “our allies on the side of justice” against Iran, Russia and Syria.
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said that all Nato allies has backed the action. “Before the strikes took place last night, Nato allies exhausted all other possible ways to address this issue through the UN Security Council by diplomatic and political means,” he told reporters in Brussels.
“Since this was blocked by Russia there was no other alternative than to react the way they reacted at this time.”