The UK should join the coalition forces in air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria, in order to deal with the threat posed by the terror outfit at home, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.
Main threats against the UK are being planned in ISIL headquarters Raqqa, and it is there that the problem needs to be addressed, Cameron commented, while responding to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee’s (FAC) report on the extension of British military operations to Syria.
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The country has been undertaking air strikes on the outfit’s strongholds in Iraq but has not yet ventured into Syria.
"We must tackle ISIL in Syria, as we are doing in neighbouring Iraq.
"It is wrong for the UK to sub-contract its security to other countries, and to expect the aircrews of other nations to carry the burdens and risks of striking ISIL in Syria to stop terrorism here in Britain," he added.
The Foreign Affairs Committee report has set certain criteria to be met for the air strikes to be considered. It has recommended a coherent international strategy to tackle ISIL, and end the civil war in Syria.
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By GlobalDataThe House of Commons is expected to vote on the matter in the coming weeks.
Cameron said that the air strikes need to be carried out while striving for a political settlement by supporting the "moderate opposition" in the Middle Eastern country.
He said that partnering with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is not an alternative to ISIL, accusing him of being involved with "the mass murder of his own people".
Cameron’s response comes a day after French lawmakers voted in support of continuing airstrikes in Syria.
The upper house of the French parliament voted 325-0 to extend the strikes until January. The lower house previously voted 515-4.
In a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that her country will contribute more in the international fight against ISIL.
Merkel was quoted by the Associated Press as saying: "If the French president asks me to think about what more we can do, then it’s our task to think about that and we will act quickly."
ISIL "can’t be convinced with words, it must be fought with military means", she added.
Image: UK President David Cameron recently met French President Francois Hollande in Paris. Photo: © Crown copyright.
