Britain and Syrian rebels maintain 'diplomatic contact' - Foreign Secretary
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy (photo: Getty Images)
The UK maintains “diplomatic contacts” with the rebel group in Syria that overthrew the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. At the same time, HTS remains a banned organization, Sky News quotes British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
According to the newspaper, the minister made a statement announcing that Britain would provide £50 million in international aid to Syrians in their “hour of need.”
“HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham - ed.) remains a proscribed organization, but we can have diplomatic contact and so we do have diplomatic contact, as you would expect,” he said, answering a question about whether the government had contact with the rebel group.
Lammy also added that Britain wants to see a representative and inclusive government in Syria to run the country. In addition, he explained other goals why there should be diplomatic contact between the parties.
“We want to see chemical weapons stockpiles secured and not used. And we want to ensure that there is no continuing violence. And so for all of those reasons, using all the channels that we have available and those of diplomatic and, of course, intelligence-led channels, we seek to deal with HTS where we have to,” he summarized.
Next Tuesday, France will send a group of diplomats to Syria for the first time in 12 years. They will “establish initial contact” with the new government and “assess the urgent needs of the population.”
Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported that a senior EU official told The Guardian on condition of anonymity that the EU wants to establish diplomatic contacts with the new Syrian leadership.
