Cameron revealed in parliament on Monday that a missile fired from a Royal Air Force drone had been used in August against a British jihadist in Syria.
He said the killing of 21-year-old Reyaad Khan, who left home to join Islamic State (IS) group militants in 2013, was "an act of self-defence" since Khan had been planning "barbaric" attacks in Britain.
The prime minister did not give further details but The Daily Telegraph newspaper, quoting unnamed government sources, said Khan was leading a plot to attack VJ Day commemoration services in London attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Cameron in August.
Two other jihadists were killed in the drone strike, including Briton Ruhul Amin, 26.
Attorney General Jeremy Wright had agreed there was a “clear legal basis” for the strike, Cameron told MPs.
On Tuesday, his defence minister, Michael Fallon, said the government “would not hesitate” to carry out further strikes “if we know there’s an armed attack likely”.
‘Summary executions’
The killing of two UK citizens has prompted comparisons with the 1988 shooting of IRA members in Gibraltar by British special forces. It also marks a first for the UK, since the target was located in a country Britain is not at war with.
Cameron acknowledged as much in parliament, saying: "Is this the first time in modern times that a British asset has been used to conduct a strike in a country where we are not involved in a war? The answer to that is yes."
Rights groups and some lawyers said the decision to authorize the strikes set a dangerous precedent, arguing that Cameron had failed to provide a legal basis for the attack.
Amnesty International UK said Britain had joined the US in conducting "summary executions from the air".
"If we allow this to become the norm, we could have countries all over the world conducting aerial execution of perceived enemies on the basis of secret, unchallengeable evidence," its director Kate Allen said.
Some critics suggested the drone strike was designed to make the case for greater British involvement in the fight against IS in Syria.
Michael Clarke, director general of defence think-tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said the government "looks as if it has decided to create a momentum to action that might be unstoppable".
"The point is not so much that this man was British, but that he was targeted in an area that the UK does not currently regard, legally, as an operational theatre of war for UK forces," he added.
Parliament bypassed
Rights group Reprieve pointed to Cameron’s lack of a mandate from parliament to carry out strikes in Syria.
The British prime minister suffered a humiliating setback two years ago when MPs rejected possible UK military action in Syria.
Last September parliament approved British participation in air strikes against IS targets, but only in Iraq.
"The fact that David Cameron has bypassed parliament to commit these covert strikes is deeply worrying - as is his refusal to share what legal advice he was given," said Kat Craig, Reprieve’s legal director.
The opposition Labour Party was more cautious in its criticism, perhaps weary of appearing soft on the threat posed by the IS group at a time when the powerful British press are generally supportive of tough action against the jihadist outift, including the controversial drone strike.
Labour’s interim leader, Harriet Harman, called for an independent review of the government’s decision. She said the incident should also be probed by parliament’s intelligence and security committee (ISC), which would have access to the intelligence that prompted Cameron to authorise the strike.
Jeremy Corbyn, an anti-war protester and the favourite to be named as Labour's next leader on Saturday, said "urgent consideration now needs to be given to the appropriate process by which attacks such as this one are sanctioned, on what evidence and on what basis of law”.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AFP)
france24.com
8/9/15
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UK says more deadly drone strikes possible, despite criticism...
ReplyDeleteBritain will not hesitate to carry out more deadly drone strikes against militants in Syria planning attacks on the United Kingdom, defense minister Michael Fallon said on Tuesday, as he defended the killing of a British Islamic State fighter.
Prime Minister Cameron told parliament on Monday that he had approved an air strike against a vehicle carrying a British jihadist in Syria who he said was plotting attacks against Britain.
The attack killed Reyaad Khan from Cardiff and two other Islamic State fighters including another Briton, Ruhul Amin.
"We wouldn't hesitate to do it again. If we know there's an armed attack likely, if we know who's involved in it, we have to do something about it," Fallon told BBC Radio.
Human rights groups and some lawyers criticized the decision to authorize the strike, which was carried out in August, saying the government needed to give details about what evidence it had that attacks were planned and to disclose the legal basis for the attack.
They said the action mimicked controversial U.S. drone strike policy and blurred the lines on what Britain was prepared to used such tactics for.
"The fact that David Cameron has bypassed parliament to commit these covert strikes is deeply worrying – as is his refusal to share what legal advice he was given," said Kat Craig, a legal director at rights group Reprieve.
The opposition Labour Party said the decision should be subject to an independent review, and asked for more information on the legal advice the government had received.........reuters.com
8/9/15
Germany's foreign minister warned Russia, France and Britain Wednesday against increased military intervention in Syria, saying the Iran nuclear deal and new U.N. initiatives offered a starting point for a political solution to the Syrian conflict...
ReplyDeleteFrank-Walter Steinmeier made his comments after Russia, which along with Iran supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said earlier Wednesday it had military experts in Syria. Assad is opposed by most Western countries.
Germany is keen to negotiate an end to the more than four-year-old civil war in Syria, but France is considering launching air strikes against ISIS militants there and Britain is ready carry out more.
"It can't be the case that important partners, who we need now, back the military option," Steinmeier told German lawmakers, pointing to consideration being given in France and Britain to airstrikes..............REUTERS
9/9/15