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Civil defence members and civilians run from an air raid in eastern Ghouta. Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world.
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Apart from executive authority relating to a wide range of governmental functions including foreign affairs, the president has the right to dissolve the People's Council, in which case a new council must be elected within ninety days from the date of dissolution. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Popular Front for Change and Liberation. Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party Syrian branch. List of Presidents of Syria. Syrian presidential election, Cities Districts Governorates Rivers Volcanoes. Army Air force air defense Navy Weapons of mass destruction. Energy and mineral resources Petroleum industry Telecommunications Transport Water supply and sanitation.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have been key backers of Syrian opposition groups fighting President Bashar al-Assad. The Western strikes on Syria looked like a fairly painless way out of a tense spot for Vladimir Putin on Saturday, with Russia claiming minimal damage to its ally and no apparent danger of the situation spiraling out of control. Judging from reports in the Russian media this week, Moscow's most pressing concern in the run-up to the airstrikes was to obtain advance warning, including coordinates of targets, so that Russian troops would not suffer casualties and force it into an unpredictable escalation.
Now that the French defence minister has said Paris and its allies warned Moscow in advance, it appears it received the information it wanted—and passed it along to Damascus. At a briefing on Saturday, the Russian defence ministry couldn't resist a little boast, claiming that 71 of missiles were intercepted, but insisted it was Soviet-made Syrian air defence systems, not Russian ones, that had come into direct conflict with the West. It claimed that Syrian troops and civilians had not borne any casualties, and damage to infrastructure was limited.
Mr Putin condemned the strikes as expected, but his words were more tempered than some of the Kremlin's previous rhetoric on Syria. Despite the more or less positive outcome for Russia, the defence ministry threatened to reconsider giving advanced S surface-to-air missile systems to Syria and other allies in light of the strikes. Russia cancelled a shipment of such missiles under Western pressure in C hina's foreign ministry has said that it believes a political settlement is the only way to resolve the Syrian issue and called for a full, fair and objective investigation into suspected chemical weapon attacks in Syria.
Hua Chunying, the ministry's spokeswoman, made the comments at a press conference according to a transcript posted on its website. US, British and French forces struck Syria with more than missiles on Saturday in the first coordinated Western strikes against the Damascus government. Hua said that China has consistently opposed the use of force in international relations and that any military action that bypassed the United Nations' Security Council violated the principles and basic norms of international law.
C yprus distanced itself on Saturday from Britain's air strikes on Syrian targets, saying it had no prior briefing or involvement in the action launched from a British sovereign air base on the Mediterranean island.
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Neither the airspace of Cyprus, or its flight information region - a huge swathe of eastern Mediterranean airspace - was used, he said. Britain retains two sovereign bases in Cyprus, a colony until independence in There are about 3, British troops on the island. Asked which chemical weapons were used in the attack that prompted the strikes, Mr le Drian said chlorine was certainly used and other substances were being analysed.
Mr Le Drian said the French president would go ahead with his visit to Moscow at the end of May as planned. B oris Johnson will meet with European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday at a meeting to dominated by the strikes on Syria, James Crisp reports from Brussels. Through the weekend, British diplomats and ministers will be in touch with their EU counterparts to lay the groundwork for discussion over Friday night's air strikes. EU Ministers are expected to back language condemning the use of chemical weapons in the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council.
Before the joint US-UK and French attack, London and Paris was pushing to toughen up the language of the draft joint statement, which will decry the use of chemical weapons and the greying of the international line against their use. Those efforts are continuing.
The debate among ministers will include discussion over the strike but also how to prevent the use of chemical weapons in the future and secure a ceasefire in Syria. The Telegraph understands the conclusions will take a tougher line on Russia and Iran than the statement agreed by EU leaders on March This will not include sanctions at this stage but there is likely to be language stating that option remains on the table.
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I n response to the Western strikes, Russia is threatening to give Syria and other allies its advanced S surface-to-air missiles, Alec Luhn reports from Moscow. T he Russian military has said that Western allies fired cruise missiles including Tomahawk missiles at Syria but that Syrian air defence systems managed to intercept 71 of them. T he Russian president condemned the overnight US-led missile attack on Syria and called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, the Kremlin has said.
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G erman Chancellor Angela Merkel has backed air strikes by the United States, France and Britain as a "necessary and appropriate" action to warn Syria against further use of chemical weapons. Security Council," Merkel said. Merkel this week had said Germany would not take part in any military action against Syria. T he Prime Minister has said she is "confident" that the strikes succeeded in degrading Assad's ability to launch chemical weapons attacks and in deterring their future use.
President of Syria
She said the strikes were and "limited and targeted" and not intended to spark further conflict. The Prime Minister said the Douma attack had caused "harrowing" scenes of innocent civilians foaming at the mouth. Mrs May said all the indications were that it was a chemical weapons attack and the Government was "clear" Bashar Assad's regime was responsible.
She said open source material showed barrel bombs had been used and a regime helicopter had been seen over Douma on April 7. Mr Corbyn said Britain should not be taking instructions from Washington and putting British military personnel in harm's way. This legally questionable action risks escalating further, as US defence secretary James Mattis has admitted, an already devastating conflict and therefore makes real accountability for war crimes and use of chemical weapons less, not more likely.
The Government should do whatever possible to push Russia and the United States to agree to an independent UN-led investigation of last weekend's horrific chemical weapons attack so that those responsible can be held to account. Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat leader, also said Mrs May should have gone to Parliament for a vote before launching strikes. Speaking to presenter John Humphrys, he said: You will be pleased to hear all of those crews have returned safely and every early indication is that is has been a highly successful mission. Mr Williamson said the service personnel involved in last night's attack have played "an important role in terms of degrading the Syrian regime in using chemical weapons in the future".
T he Syrian regime knew there was little it could do to stop the incoming barrage of Western missiles. But it also knew that the hours afterwards would be crucial in terms of reassuring its own base. As well as posting a video of Assad going to work as normal, the regime has organised "spontaneous" demonstrations on the streets of Damascus. Soldiers and regime supporters paraded with the red-and-black Syrian government flag.
Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has responded angrily to the strikes, while Syrian state media called them a "flagrant violation of international law. V ideo has emerged apparently showing President Bashar al-Assad going to work as normal. U K forces have been engaged in "gesture bombing with no major international consensus", the Scottish National Party spokesman for defence said. Stewart McDonald wrote on Twitter: What does this new bombing campaign do to help move Syria towards peace?
Instead, it has the potential to dangerously complicate the war, making matters on the ground worse for the people that the strikes are supposed to help. There is no peace strategy. F oreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he welcomed the military strikes on Syria. Welcome the news of UK military strikes against major chemical weapons facilities in Syria alongside our US and French allies.
The world is united in its disgust for any use of chemical weapons, but especially against civilians. S cottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said questions remained about how peace can be brought to Syria. Writing on Twitter, she said: An international strategy for peace must be pursued - not a course that risks dangerous escalation.
T he Ministry of Defence has released images and footage of the strike on a chemical weapons facility. See images and video here: Defence Minister Florence Parly told reporters on Saturday that the French military sent fighter jets from multiple bases in France and used missile-equipped frigates in the Mediterranean in the operation. S he said strikes targeted the "main research center" for the Syrian chemical weapons program and "two important production sites.
She added that "with our allies, we ensured that the Russians were warned ahead of time. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the operation did not target Syria's allies or civilians but President Bashar Assad's government because of its alleged use of chemical weapons.
Bashar al-Assad
Syria's government denies using them. H undreds of Syrians are demonstrating in a landmark square of the Syrian capital, waving victory signs and honking their car horns in a show of defiance. Some clapped their hands and danced, others drove in convoys, honking their horns. State TV broadcast live from the square where a large crowd of civilians mixed with men in uniforms, including an actor, lawmakers and other figures.
M r Trump's announcement of airstrikes in Syria triggered swift warnings from opposition Democrats that any broader military campaign there would require a well-formulated strategic vision - and authorisation from Congress. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi led calls for the US president to map out a detailed plan and present it to Congress if he wants to expand military action. Some Democrats like Senator Tim Kaine, the party's vice presidential nominee in , said although last week's deadly apparent chemical attack was an abomination, Trump's air strikes were illegal.