West weighs military attack on Syria
Move follows alleged poison gas attack by Syrian government forces on civilians in Douma
LONDON/MOSCOW: British ministers planned to gather to discuss whether to join the United States and France in a possible military attack on Syria that threatens to bring Western and Russian forces into direct confrontation.
Prime Minister Theresa May recalled the ministers from their Easter holiday for a special cabinet meeting on how to respond to what she has cast as a barbaric poison gas attack by Syrian government forces on civilians in the formerly rebel-held town of Douma, just east of the capital Damascus.
There were signs, though, of a global effort to head off a dangerous conflict pitting Russia against the West. The Kremlin said a crisis communications link with the United States, created to avoid an accidental clash over Syria, was in use. The British cabinet meeting was due to begin at 1430 GMT.
“The situation in Syria is horrific, the use of chemical weapons is something the world has to prevent,” Brexit minister David Davis said.
“But also it’s a very, very delicate circumstance and we’ve got to make this judgment on a very careful, very deliberate, very well thought-through basis.”
Russia, the Syrian government’s most important ally in its sevenyear-old war with rebels, said it had deployed military police in Douma after the town was taken
The situation in Syria is horrific, the use of chemical weapons is something the world has to prevent. But also it’s a very, very delicate circumstance and we’ve got to make this judgment on a very careful, very deliberate, very well thought-through basis.
David Davis, Brexit minister
over by government forces.
“They are the guarantors of law and order in the town,” RIA news agency quoted Russia’s defence ministry as saying.
US President Donald Trump warned Russia on Wednesday that missiles ‘will be coming’ in response to the April 7 gas attack, alleged to have killed dozens of people, and lambasted Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria’s military has repositioned some air assets to avoid fallout from possible missile strikes, US officials told Reuters.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor, also said pro-Syrian government forces were emptying main airports and military air bases.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, striking a cautious tone after Trump’s threat of missile strikes, said the United States was assessing intelligence about the suspected toxic gas attack.
Asked if he had seen enough evidence to blame the Syrian president, Mattis said: “We’re still working on this.”