Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Boris Johnson blames Assad regime for 'disregard for human life' in Aleppo

Joe Watts
Political Editor
Saturday 10 December 2016 18:48 GMT
Comments
Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson speaks at the IISS Regional Security Summit "The Manama Dialogue" in Manama, Bahrain December 9, 2016
Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson speaks at the IISS Regional Security Summit "The Manama Dialogue" in Manama, Bahrain December 9, 2016 (Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Boris Johnson has accused the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad of presiding over a "flagrant disregard for human life" in Aleppo after meeting other foreign ministers to discuss the ongoing crisis there.

The Foreign Secretary emerged from the meeting in Paris to demand access for humanitarian aid to the Syrian city being strangled by a Russian-backed regime offensive.

It comes as Mr Johnson heads to Saudi Arabia for a meeting with the country’s leaders following the row over his comments that the country is involved in “proxy wars”.

After the Paris meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry and others, Mr Johnson said: “The situation in Aleppo remains dire with desperate images of destruction and a flagrant disregard for human life being splashed across the media on a daily basis.

“We agreed our first priority must be the protection of civilians and ensuring access for humanitarian aid. It's essential that the regime and its backers provide the United Nations that access with immediate effect.”

Mr Johnson accepted that rebels were being beaten back in Aleppo but went on to outline that there can be no “military solution in Syria”.

He added: “We must keep pushing for a return to a political process with the credibility necessary for all parties to commit to an end to all the fighting.”

Mr Johnson left the meeting to immediately head for the Gulf where he is due to meet his Saudi Arabian counterpart, where he will explain comments he made at a conference in Italy last week.

In the unguarded words, recorded and later published by the Guardian, he accused all politicians in the region of “twisting and abusing religion…in order to further their own political objectives.”

He added: “And that’s why you have these proxy wars being fought the whole time in that area… there is not strong enough leadership in the countries themselves.”

Boris Johnson caught on video accusing ally Saudi Arabia of ‘playing proxy wars’

Mr Johnson then lumped the Saudis in with Iran suggesting the two nations are both “puppeteering and playing proxy wars”.

Afterwards, Theresa May’s official spokesperson said the Foreign Secretary’s comments were his own view and did not reflect Government policy, and indicated Mr Johnson would have a chance to recant when he visits Saudi.

The Foreign Secretary has refused to apologise however, and has even won the backing of Tories for giving what they see as an accurate appraisal of the situation in the Middle East.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in