British minister opposes arming Syrian rebels
In an exclusive interview, the United Kingdom's Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Hugh Robertson said that further militarization is not the way to end the Syria war.
AMMAN, Jordan — Hugh Robertson, Britain’s minister of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs, has opposed calls to arm the Syrian rebels, instead insisting that all sides need to return to the negotiating table.
“Generally speaking if you want to end a war, arming both sides is not the way to do it,” he told Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview on March 26, on the sidelines of his tour of Syrian refugees in Jordan.
Robertson noted that Britain has additional motivation for peace because of the presence of some 400 British jihadists that are fighting in Syria. “This increases the importance of a political settlement in Syria. Without it, there will be instability, which will increase extremism and bring about an increase of jihadists.”
On the Palestinian peace process, Robertson noted that his government does not recognize Israel as a Jewish state and does not back demands for Palestinians to do so.
