Arming the Syrian rebels would be “pressing weapons into the hands of maniacs and Al-Qaeda thugs,” London’s mayor has warned. His is the latest call in a wave of rhetoric urging the UK prime minister not to provide the Syrian rebels with weapons.
Writing for British publication The Telegraph, Boris Johnson
wrote that the UK must not use Syria as “an arena for muscle
flexing.”
“We can’t use Syria as an arena for geopolitical point-scoring
or muscle-flexing, and we won’t get a ceasefire by pressing
weapons into the hands of maniacs,” wrote Johnson.
He joins a number of prominent British political and social
figures in an attempt to dissuade Prime Minister David Cameron
from sending arms to the Syrian opposition.
“This is the moment for a total ceasefire, an end to the
madness,” Johnson writes. “It is time for the US, Russia,
the EU, Turkey, Iran, Saudi and all the players to convene an
intergovernmental conference to try to halt the carnage."
Deputy PM Nick Clegg also warned Cameron of the dangers of
supplying the opposition with weapons. He reasoned that the UK
government had not deemed it necessary to send weapons before and
saw no reason to change this policy.
There has been speculation that Cameron is in favor of supporting
Washington and sending weapons aid to rebels in Syria. The Obama
Administration announced last week that the Syrian regime had
crossed “a red line,” citing evidence that government
forces had used the chemical weapon sarin in the conflict.
The “intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has
used chemical weapons on a small scale against the opposition
multiple times in the last year,” said Deputy National
Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes said in
a statement.
Russia spoke out against the US plan to aid the rebels, saying
the Kremlin was “unconvinced” by the US evidence that
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces were using chemical
weapons.
The Syrian issue dominated bilateral talks between Moscow and
London last week. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with
Cameron last Monday, insisting that supplying the opposition with
weapons would only serve to destabilize Syria further. Russia
believes the conflict will only be brought to an end through
negotiations.
"I think you will not deny that one does not really need to
support the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up
their bodies, eat their intestines in front of the public and
cameras," Putin said, referring to a video footage on the
internet of a rebel fighter apparently eating the heart of a
government soldier.
David Cameron, however, remains steadfast in his opinion that the
root cause of the conflict is Assad.
The “new evidence makes that clearer than ever,” said
Cameron, citing the US’ claims of government forces using sarin
gas.
Washington is also reviewing the possibility of setting up a
no-fly zone in Syria, US officials told Reuters. The no-fly zone
would extend 40km into Syrian territory and would be used as a
safe haven for refugees and a platform to train rebels.