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The leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn said Saturday there was no legal basis for British strikes against Syria and such action would encourage others to behave in the same way.
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Corbyn wrote a letter to British Prime Minister Theresa May explaining his reasoning for opposing the coordinated U.S, U.K. and French strikes against Syrian government structures.
“I believe the action was legally questionable, and this morning the U.N. secretary general has said as much, reiterating that all countries must act in line with the U.N. charter,” the leader of the British opposition argued.
“As I said, I believe that Parliament should have been consulted and voted on the matter. The UK prime minister is accountable to Parliament, not to the whims of a US president.”
The Labour party leader also highlighted how the bombing took place before the United Nations or the world’s chemical watchdog OPCW investigated the incident. “It is now vitally important that the OPCW inspectors, who are due to arrive in Douma today, are allowed to do their work and publish their report into their findings - and report to the United Nations Security Council.”
Therefore he called on May to assure the country and lawmakers that no further action will be taken against Syria and that international inspectors “be allowed to complete their inspections without hindrance.”
He also used his letter to call on his government to prioritize the role of diplomacy in resolving the Syrian conflict, while also calling for taking in more refugees from the war-torn nation in order to ease the suffering of the Syrian people.
“Our only priority must be the safety and security of the Syrian people - which is best served by de-escalating this conflict, so that aid can get in.”
The United States, United Kingdom and France fired over 100 missiles into Syria according to the Syrian government, Russia and the U.S. military. The Syrian army said that more than 70 missiles of the 105 fired at its structures were intercepted by its air defenses.
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a statement Saturday denouncing the United States-led military attack in Syria calling it “an aggression against a sovereign state which is at the forefront of the fight against terrorism,” and echoing Corbyn’s concerns that the multi-national strikes were not sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council and thus were “in violation of the U.N. Charter and principles of international law.”
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