Andrew Green: UK Should ’Move In the Direction of Friendship’ With Al-Assad
Local Editor
The UK should reopen its embassy in Damascus and "swallow its pride" in order to build relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a former UK ambassador to Syria said.
Lord Andrew Green of Deddington said the regime of President al-Assad is "here to say."
"Britain should "move in the direction" of "friendship" with al-Assad."
Lord Green was the UK's ambassador to Syria between 1991 and 1994. He then became Director of the Middle East at the Foreign Office, before being appointed as ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Speaking to The House magazine, Lord Green said: "The reality is that the present al-Assad regime is now here to stay. His forces have made decisive progress on the ground, strongly supported by Russia and Iran, both now key players in the region.
Calling on the UK government to change its approach to Syria, the former diplomat said: "It is high time, therefore, to take an objective view of the Syrian regime and of our interests in the region. Our major interest is the denial of Syrian territory to ISIS [known in Arabic as the Daesh terrorist group] and its allies. We need to be clear that [...] extremists are the greatest threat to our own society since the Second World War."
"There is an Arab proverb that 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Friendship is hardly possible unless and until the Syrian regime lightens its touch but, meanwhile, we should swallow our pride and move in that direction."
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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