UK sees no role for Assad in Syria's future

British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon has said that his country sees no long-term role for embattled President Bashar Al-Assad in Syria's future, the Kuwait News Agency, KUNA reported.

After launching a war on his own people and using chemical weapons and barrel bombs against civilians, Britain sees no long-term role for him in Syria, Fallon said in an interview with the agency ahead of his visit to Kuwait on Sunday.

"He emphasised that Syrians must determine their own future through a political process, so Britain backs the Geneva intra-Syrian negotiations.

"To achieve this goal, he called on Syrian diverse political forces to adhere to the democratic rules to help build a better future for Syria with an inclusive democratic government," said KUNA.

When discussing Afghanistan, the agency reported Fallon as welcoming of US President Donald Trump's recent decision to increase US troops there.

"Britain would review beefing up military aid to Afghan government forces and supplying them with their needs," KUNA quoted Fallon as saying.

According to the agency, the British Defense Secretary pointed out that the UK has raised the number of its troops in Afghanistan, deployed as a part of the NATO mission there, by 10 percent in 2016 and 15 percent in June 2017. "Soon, the number of British troops stationed in Afghanistan would climb to 550-600 service members," he added.

Fallon also agreed with US counterpart James Mattis on the need to encourage other NATO members to increase their forces in Afghanistan during talks over the phone last Monday. KUNA concluded.

Source:WAM