If UK Trained Child Soldiers in the Saudi-led Coalition, then Theresa May must Stand before the House of Commons

Al-Ahed News Correspondent

In an exclusive interview with al-Ahed, Dr. Marcus Papadopoulos, London-based Publisher and Editor of Politics First magazine, and commentator on Syria and British politics, spoke about UK military involvement in Yemen, the decision of the British Government to blacklist Hezbollah, and why the British UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, failed to condemn the Saudi onslaught against Yemenis.

London - In an exclusive interview with al-Ahed, Dr. Marcus Papadopoulos, Publisher and Editor of Politics First, stressed that if the allegation of UK Special Forces training child soldiers in the Saudi-led coalition is true, then P.M. Theresa May "must stand before the House of Commons and explain herself."

Speaking about the double standards of the UK Government in supporting the Saudi war in Yemen and pretending to take on the role of a mediator in order to end the war, and in light of the Daily Mail investigation which revealed that elite Special Boat Service [SBS] troops suffered gunshot injuries in fierce clashes with Yemeni fighters, Dr. Papadopoulos said that the British establishment is "extremely contrived and often presents itself publicly as a mediator in conflicts, whereas in reality it has either instigated the fighting or is fueling it."

Dr. Papadopoulos further remarked that, "the British will pretend to be your friend - citing your human rights and independence - while at the same time they will do everything possible to deprive you of these necessities."

Last week, Foreign Office Minister, Mark Field, promised to get to the bottom of “very serious and well sourced” allegations concerning British SBS soldiers having been injured while fighting in Yemen.

However, Dr. Papadopoulos downplayed that promise, saying: "Investigations are routinely promised by the British establishment but nothing ever comes of them."

“‘Investigations’ by the British elite is an art of deception, aimed at deceiving the British public and maintaining the facade that Britain is a defender of the rule of law", Dr. Papadopoulos added.

He further asserted that "the sad reality is that given Britain got away scot-free in helping to bomb Serbia for 78 days, causing large civilian casualties, and in helping to invade Iraq, causing vast numbers of civilian deaths, then the British establishment will easily get away with the crimes it is committing in Yemen."

In regard to the role of UN special envoy, Mr. Martin Griffiths, who is acting as a mediator, Dr. Papadopoulos stressed that "Saudi Arabia partly acts with impunity in Yemen because of so-called British mediators." 

"Martin Griffiths is a former senior British diplomat, and it should be said that diplomats like Mr. Griffiths are never truly "former" diplomats - they continue to lobby for British foreign policy objectives in whatever new roles they take on", Dr Papadopoulos said, calling on Yemenis not to  let the "former" bit deceive them.

"The British establishment is highly crafted in presenting itself as a neutral party with the aim of bringing about an end to conflicts", according to Dr. Papadopoulos, who added that, "in reality, the British provide cover at the United Nations for their allies, such as Saudi Arabia, to get away with committing crimes against humanity, while simultaneously providing weapons to governments likes the Saudi one to murder civilians with."

Regarding Donald Trump's decision to recognize Syria's occupied Golan as part of “Israel”, Dr. Papadopoulos said it "is a grave violation of the United Nations Charter".

"American foreign policy is morally wicked, and the US is the biggest and most dangerous rogue state in the world," Dr. Papadopoulos noted.

In regard to the British Government decision to blacklist Hezbollah, Dr. Papadopoulos considered it as a way of putting pressure on the opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, stating: "British mainstream media regularly presents Hezbollah to the British public as a 'terrorist, murderous' organization and then adds in how Mr. Corbyn is historically sympathetic to Hezbollah."

Nevertheless, Dr. Papadopoulos, confirmed to al-Ahed that British national newspapers and news channels will never tell the British public that Hezbollah was formed in response to 'Israel's' illegal invasion of Lebanon, in 1982, and has existed, ever since then, to defend Lebanon from the clutches of 'Israel'."

He concluded that the British mainstream media will never inform their viewers and readers that many Christians in Lebanon vote for Hezbollah in elections and serve in Hezbollah, and also how Hezbollah has helped to defend Christian towns and villages and churches and monasteries in Syria against Wahhabi terrorists, armed and trained by the British state.

To read the full interview, click here.