Posted on 09/25/2015 11:03:52 AM PDT by keat
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad must go but it might be necessary to talk with him as part of a deal on a transition of power, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in an interview published by French daily Le Monde on Friday.
Departing from a strict U.S. and Western policy of not talking with Assad, Hammond expressed concerns over Russia's role in the country, which has been torn apart by four years of civil war.
"Assad must go, he can't be part of Syria's future," Hammond said, according to Le Monde's French translation of the interview.
He added: "If we reach a deal on a transition authority and Assad is part of it, then it will be necessary to talk with him in his capacity as an actor in this process."
Hammond discussed Syria with his French and German counterparts in Paris on Thursday night, as the war in Syria takes center-stage in a series of meetings due to continue at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Russia has built up its military forces in Syria in recent weeks with combat aircraft, tanks and other equipment, sparking concerns in Washington and European capitals, which are pressing Moscow to clarify its intentions.
"Russia's military build-up complicates the situation," Hammond told Le Monde. "Their presence inevitably reinforces Assad, and increases their moral responsibility in the crimes committed by his regime".
U.S. President Barack Obama will push Russian President Vladimir Putin to explain how his country's military presence in Syria will contribute to defeating Islamic State when the two leaders meet next week, White House officials said on Thursday.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Yeah - with Putin and the Russian military propping him up, good luck with that.
Who the hell is the British foreign secretary to say who gets to run Syria? Who exactly does he think will do it better?
Now that the Ruskies are in Syria looks like pencil neck aint going anywhere. Not so bad— it wasn’t pencil neck slaughtering the Christians and Yazidhis...
Uh, yeah, I’m sure Assad will be calling you just any minute now Philip.
The only thing we need to say to him is “would you like a blindfold?”
Why the heck does the UK get to decide? Who put them in charge of the world?
Why the heck does the UK get to decide? Who put them in charge of the world?
Can somebody give us a list of the things that Assad has done to the USA to merit our attempting to remove him? And don’t include allegations of use of poison gas — his alleged use has not been investigated by a neutral party, and it does not involve the USA. As of now, our choice is either Assad or ISIS.
The most cash flow happens from “the City,” in London, where the most influential political constituents on the planet play.
Years ago, through Ahmadinejad, Iranian clerical leaders said that they intended to share nukes with Syria. There was also cooperation with North Korea on development.
Don’t care? Okay. The problem with be solved even sooner then, but it will be much more noisy (World War 3).
And as for Syria, it’s gone anyway and going more. Might be a good place to raise some goats in the future, though.
Well, we cant rely on the US anymore.
It’s Reuters. The last vestige of British neo-Nazi propaganda.
Just me, or some latent Anglophobia sloshing about this thread.
Its Free Republic. The last vestige of whiny Anglophobia.
Sorry, I didn’t realise we had to ask America’s permission.
Scotland is part of the UK.
I was surprised that a few here seemed to get all pissy that the UK was getting involved. We need neither your permission nor wait for you to do something, which these days aint gonna happen.
Who are the UK to get involved?. No more and certainly no less entitled than the US.
I could argue more entitled due to our colonial history.
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