Hammond: UK won't work with Assad in Islamic State battle

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Hammond: UK won't work with Assad in Islamic State battle



Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond says working with Assad to fight Islamists "would poison what we are trying to achieve"



Britain will not work with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the battle against Islamic State (IS) extremists, the foreign secretary has told the BBC.

Philip Hammond said to do so would not be "practical, sensible or helpful".
Former head of the Army Lord Dannatt and ex-Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind called for the move following the beheading of US journalist James Foley by IS militants.
Mr Hammond also defended the monitoring of suspected extremists in the UK.
'Poison'The UK government has called for President Assad to be removed as Syrian leader as a result of his actions during the country's civil war.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's The World at One, the foreign secretary said to co-operate with the Syrian regime would "poison" what the UK was trying to achieve.
He said: "We may very well find that we are fighting, on some occasions, the same people that he is but that doesn't make us his ally."



Lord Dannatt: "A conversation's got to be held with him [Assad]"

Earlier, Lord Dannatt called for a dialogue.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think whether it's above the counter or below the counter, a conversation has got to be held with him."
Sir Malcolm, the chairman of Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, said history had shown that "sometimes you actually have to make an arrangement with some nasty people in order to get rid of some even nastier ones".
The US has described IS, which has seized large swathes of northern Iraq, as the biggest threat it has faced in recent years.
In the video of Mr Foley's murder, IS militants threatened to kill another American if the US did not stop its air strikes against the group in northern Iraq.

'More investment

'Police and security services are trying to identify the jihadist - who had an English accent - who appeared in footage of Mr Foley's killing.
Unconfirmed reports suggest the man is from London or south-east England.
Mr Hammond said the authorities were "devoting significant amounts of resource to identifying the individual".
The government has defended its approach to extremists at home, following calls for a change in strategy prompted by the killing.


The man shown in the video spoke with an English accent

Mr Hammond said "significant powers" were available to deal with people planning to travel to Syria or Iraq to fight including withdrawing passports, monitoring them while overseas and arresting them on their return.
The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, David Anderson, said the right balance had been achieved between protecting freedom and security.
However, Mr Anderson said he had recommended tougher restrictions on terror suspects kept under Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPims).
TPims are used to restrict movement, the use of computers and mobile phones and meetings with others. They replaced the previous system of control orders - which were more restrictive - in 2011.


Iraqi Ambassador to the UK Faik Nerweyi: "Islamic State is a dangerous thing for all of us"

Lord Carlile, a former independent reviewer of terrorism laws, said no TPims were currently in place, because ones previously imposed had all expired.
He said: "The government decided to have no more, for reasons which I have never understood."
He called for control orders to be reintroduced and for more investment in the Prevent strategy, which distributes money to anti-extremism schemes across the country.
He added: "We must ensure that the Prevent strand of counter-terrorism policy is given the funding it needs so that it can work in all parts of the country".
The Home Office said TPims had been introduced because control orders were not working and were being "struck down by the courts".
It said the "strongest possible action" would be taken to protect national security, adding: "Ultimately the best place for terrorists is behind bars and we will prosecute those who break the law."
Usman Nawaz, a former government adviser on extremism, told the BBC: "I don't think the government is doing enough to have a conversation with young Muslims, or to understand what's going on in the mind of young Muslims, the vast majority of whom completely reject the ideas and ideologies of [IS]."
A former Labour Foreign Office minister, Kim Howells, said successive governments and religious leaders were to blame for the radicalisation of Muslims in Britain.
Mr Howells said it was time to address the "narrative" among some Muslims that they were the victims of a "plot" to suppress them.


IS presence in Iraq and Syria

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28892755

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Hammond you are one stupid arrogant twat.
It is a direct result of your policies and stance on Syria and Assad that has caused this to happen in Iraq now.

People are dying right now because you are too arrogant to admit you were wrong.

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Been of the opinion the IS (formerly al Qaeda basically) is manufactured by the US as a quick and easy tool to justify any war or other action in the middle east they wish to take.

Seems like they are getting ready for another episode of some description. AFAIK the U.S are due to sign some OIL treaty with Iraqs government in the next 6 months maybe this well "delay" it

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Been of the opinion the IS (formerly al Qaeda basically) is manufactured by the US as a quick and easy tool to justify any war or other action in the middle east they wish to take.

Seems like they are getting ready for another episode of some description. AFAIK the U.S are due to sign some OIL treaty with Iraqs government in the next 6 months maybe this well "delay" it

I personally think that a large proportion of IS are old Saddam regime sponsored by Qatar and Saudi.

[piggzy]

I personally think that a large proportion of IS are old Saddam regime sponsored by Qatar and Saudi.

I think you may be right ! Sponsored is the key phrase here .

Whatever. they are gullible puppets

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Outrage as French President Francois Hollande blames Britain for rise of IS jihadists

FRENCH President Francois Hollande was blasted after he blamed Britain for the rise of Islamic State jihadists today.




Francois Hollande has blasted Britain for inciting jihadists[GETTY]

In a series of provocative remarks he suggested that Parliament’s decision to block airstrikes on Syria had allowed the terror organisation to flourish, because it had ended any hope of replacing President Bashar al-Assad with members of the moderate opposition fighting him.

MPs ruled out military action against Assad last August after the brutal dictator used chemical weapons to slaughter tens of thousands of his own people.
But the French President, who supported military action, said yesterday: “If, two years ago, we had acted to ensure a transition, we wouldn’t have had Islamic State.
“If, one year ago, the major powers had reacted to the use of chemical weapons, we wouldn’t have had this terrible choice between a dictator and a terrorist group.”
Former British military chief Lord Dannatt rejected President Hollande’s claim – arguing that Parliament had been right to reject military action against Syria.
He said: “It’s clearly turned out over the past two or three years to be a very diverse, very complicated country – and I think the reason why quite rightly the British Parliament voted against intervention a year ago and we didn’t join American airstrikes is that we couldn’t be certain who we would be supporting.”
Mr Hollande’s incendiary remarks came amid growing international anger that France is funding IS jihadists by paying ransoms to free hostages.
Britain and the United States steadfastly refuse to negotiate with terrorists in an effort not to encourage further hostage taking. But this policy is being undermined by the French – and other European countries - negotiating secret deals to free their citizens.

Over the last five years Islamic State is thought to have earned £75million ransoming more than 50 captives.
Four French and three Spanish hostages have been released this year after money was delivered through an intermediary.
Tory MP Andrew Rosindall, who sits on the respected Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said: “If they are paying ransoms they are harming the interests of the free world and by playing the game of terrorism by paying ransom money they are funding and furthering the cause of ISIS and Al Qaeda.
“The French and the Spanish should really look at themselves in the mirror and ask whether this is the right thing to do.”
Meanwhile, Britain yesterday (Fri) ruled out any alliance with the Syrian president to combat the threat posed by IS extremists.
The Government has come under pressure to contemplate working with the Assad regime to tackle the militants operating in Syria and Iraq, with Lord Dannatt suggesting there was a need to build bridges with the Syrian president.

But Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said an alliance with the Assad regime would not be “practical, sensible or helpful”.
The UK government has called for Assad to be removed as Syrian leader as a result of his actions during the country’s bloody civil war.
Asked if the UK would have to collaborate with the Assad regime, Mr Hammond told BBC Radio 4’s World at One: “No. We may very well find that we are fighting, on some occasions, the same people that he is but that doesn’t make us his ally.”
He added: “It would poison what we are trying to achieve in separating moderate Sunni opinion from the poisonous ideology of IS if we were to align ourselves with President Assad.”
Lord Dannatt told the BBC: “The old saying my ‘enemy’s enemy is my friend’ has begun to have some resonance with our relationship with Iran.
“I think it’s going to have to have some resonance with our relationship with Assad.”
And former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind suggested that the West would have to deal with Assad in the same way that Sir Winston Churchill allied with Joseph Stalin against Hitler.
Sir Malcolm told World at One: “I think we have to be harshly realistic, which means we don’t pretend we are chums of the Syrian regime - they are a ghastly regime, they are a horrid regime - but just as during the Second World War Churchill and (Franklin D.) Roosevelt swallowed hard and dealt with Stalin, with the Soviet Union, not because they had any naivety about what Stalin represented but because that was necessary in order to defeat Hitler, and history judged them right in coming to that difficult but necessary judgment.”
Gulf War veteran and Tory MP Adam Holloway, said: “Mr Hollande is not exactly successful in his own job so to say what he has is outrageous. If we had followed his path and taken military action the situation would be a lot worse.”

http://www.express.co.uk/news/politi...ame-for-jihadi

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I never thought I'd see the day that I was agreeing with Hollande.