UK Special Rep for Syria states interest in working with Russia in Syria

Sputnik
Mon, 13 Feb 2017 16:27 UTC

© Ministry of defence of the Russian Federation / Sputnik

The United Kingdom is interested in the joint work with Russia in Syria despite differences on how to meet their common goals, UK Special Representative for Syria Gareth Bayley told Sputnik.

"We have good and constant contact with Russia in three obvious ways: in the Security Council in New York, in the UN in Geneva, and directly, bilaterally. We have a fundamental interest in working together, and we have shared interests in Syria," Bayley said in an interview published Monday. The shared interests include reaching a lasting peace in Syria, battling radicalization and managing migration, he explained.

"But where we differ is how we meet these interests, how we secure these interests," Bayley noted. He argued that "there are many elements" of Russian and Syrian activities which cause concern for the UK, but clarified that "the more general point about cooperation on the crisis is extremely important."

Any military communication between London and Moscow, however, "would have to be considered through existing coalition mechanisms," the UK diplomat stated.

The United Kingdom does not yet plan to conduct a ground mission in Syria, a decision that would depend on the course of the US-led campaign there, the UK Special Representative for Syria said.

"We've been conducting air operations since December 2015 within Syria. We would have no plans to put British forces on the ground in these operations," Bayley said.

Bayley said in an interview published Monday that the UK's expanded role "depends on the counter-Daesh campaign," referring to the US-led 68-country operation against the internationally-condemned jihadist group also known as ISIS and ISIL.

"It's a decision not yet taken. We will see in the next months how the campaign proceeds," he stressed.

Comment: Bayley's intentions sound good on the surface, yet he's been vocal in supporting the so-called 'moderate opposition'. He stated on his blog for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office:

Russia seems to be playing along with the regime's fantasy that all opposition groups are terrorists. In fact, the majority of opposition groups are moderate. They are key to a Syrian-led transition because, alongside the political opposition in exile, they offer a credible third narrative for Syria apart from the tyrannies of Assad or ISIL. Furthermore, from an international security perspective, Russia's regime-serving narrative risks weakening them as the only credible ground force against ISIL.

Who are the armed opposition? Leaving aside ISIL, which has almost no presence in Western Syria, and who are in open conflict with all other opposition groups, there are two broad categories of armed opposition. Some are doubtlessly extremists, most notably Al Qaida-linked Jabhat Al-Nusra (JaN).

But by far the larger group are what we would call 'moderate'. That means not extremist, nor terrorist, but focussed only on the removal of the tyrannical Assad regime and the horrors of ISIL from their country. Aside from in JaN's stronghold in parts of Idlib and the rural far North-West of Syria, more moderate forces dominate the space.

Bayley fails miserably in addressing who the armed opposition actually is. He does not name a single opposition group who could be identified as truly moderate, despite his assertion that they are in the majority. People just have to take his word.

It would be a welcome change to see the UK actually engaging with Russia in Syria in a productive way, but there is nothing to indicate their intentions are genuine.