UK in ‘diplomatic contact’ with Syrian rebels, says Lammy
British Foreign Secretary David Lamy said the British government has made “diplomatic engagement” with the Syrian rebel groups that overthrew Assad’s regime.
Lamy said HTS remained a banned terrorist group but the UK “can engage diplomatically, so we do have diplomatic engagement, as you would expect”.
his American counterpart Antony Blinken said on Saturday that the United States had made “direct contact” HTS rebels now control Syria.
Lamy’s comments came as the government announced a £50m humanitarian aid package for vulnerable Syrians.
Speaking on Sunday, Lamy said: “We want to see a representative government, an inclusive government. We want to see chemical weapons stockpiles secured, not used, and we want to ensure that violence does not continue.”
“For all of these reasons, using all the channels we have available, including diplomatic channels and of course intelligence-led channels, we seek to deal with HTS where necessary.”
Diplomatic engagement with HTS does not mean that the Foreign Secretary personally engages with the rebel group.
Britain closed its embassy in Damascus in 2013, two years after Assad’s regime began a brutal crackdown on Arab Spring protests.
Asked whether HTS could be removed from the UK’s list of banned terrorist groups, the Foreign Secretary said the insurgent group was still a banned group from Al Qaeda.
Lamy said: “Al-Qaeda is responsible for the huge loss of life on British soil.” He added: “We will judge them by their actions and I will not comment on future bans but of course we recognize that this is An important moment for Syria.”
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said No decision has been made on the banned status of HTS.
Regarding the cash commitment to the Middle Eastern country, Lamy said it followed talks in Aqaba on Saturday.
At a conference hosted by Jordan, representatives from several countries agreed on the importance of “non-sectarian and representative government,” protecting human rights, unrestricted access to humanitarian aid, the safe destruction of chemical weapons and the fight against terrorism.
The talks were attended by the United States, France, Germany, the Arab Contact Group, Bahrain, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the European Union and the United Nations.
HTS did not attend the meeting in Jordan.
