“The
need to restart genuine negotiations for peace and an inclusive
political settlement of the Syrian conflict, including the withdrawal
of all foreign forces, could not be more urgent.”
by
Jake Johnson
With
U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly mulling his “options” for
a military attack on Syria while continuing to issue belligerent
threats on Twitter, U.K. Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn condemned the
Tory government on Friday for “waiting for instructions”
from Trump and demanded an immediate resumption of peace talks.
“The
need to restart genuine negotiations for peace and an inclusive
political settlement of the Syrian conflict, including the withdrawal
of all foreign forces, could not be more urgent. We must do
everything we can, no matter how challenging, to bring that about,”
Corbyn said in a statement. “The humanitarian priority must be
to halt the killing on all sides.”
Corbyn’s
call for negotiations over further military intervention in a
conflict that has already killed hundreds of thousands of people and
displaced millions comes as the Tory government—led by Prime
Minister Theresa May—is keeping the U.K. in line with the U.S. and
France “on a steady march” toward attacks on Syria, according to
Politico.
In his
statement on Friday, Corbyn argued that ramping up the U.K.’s
already significant role in Syria would risk “escalating an
already devastating conflict.”
Read
Corbyn’s full statement below:
Further U.K. military
intervention in Syria’s appalling multi-sided war risks escalating
an already devastating conflict.
The government appears
to be waiting for instructions from President Donald Trump on how to
proceed. But the U.S. administration is giving alarmingly
contradictory signals.
Even U.S. defense
secretary James Mattis has said we “don’t have evidence” and
warned further military action could “escalate out of control”.
Ministers should take
their proposals, such as they are, to parliament. And Britain should
press for an independent U.N.-led investigation of last weekend’s
horrific chemical weapons attack so that those responsible can be
held to account.
Rather than further
military action, what is urgently needed is a coordinated
international drive to achieve a ceasefire and a negotiated
settlement under U.N. auspices. The humanitarian priority must be to
halt the killing on all sides.
The need to restart
genuine negotiations for peace and an inclusive political settlement
of the Syrian conflict, including the withdrawal of all foreign
forces, could not be more urgent. We must do everything we can, no
matter how challenging, to bring that about.
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