British PM David Cameron stresses need to replace ‘ISIS recruiter’ Assad

Describing Syrian president Bashar al-Assad as ISIS’ recruitment sergeant, British prime minister David Cameron said his country cannot wait any longer to carry out military interventions in the war-torn country “to keep Europe safe.”

While insisting that British military action should only target ISIS, Cameron said Assad is “acting like a recruitment sergeant” for the Islamist group by savagely bombing his people and warned that the president cannot be included in any long-term strategy for stability in Syria.

The British premier expressed hope that the military intervention and parallel diplomatic efforts by Britain, France and other allies will hasten the creation of a transitional Syrian government which would represent all minorities, including the forlorn Kurdish people.

“While military action is necessary, it by itself will not succeed in defeating ISIS, and must form part of a wider strategy that includes the future reconstruction of Syria when the war is over,” he said.

Turning to Libya, Cameron said ISIS was taking advantage of the political vacuum in the North African country and said the international community requires a unity government to “counter terrorism.”

Together with former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Cameron was among the principal sponsors of the NATO intervention in 2011 which led to the ousting of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

“There is no doubt that extremist groups take advantage of ungoverned space, so we require a partner in Libya with whom we can work to help prevent the threat of terrorism,” he said.

Cameron, in Malta for the CHOGM summit, called on the Commonwealth to take an active role in fighting violent extremism.

“We must expose it for what it is, which is a belief system that divides communities and glorifies violence,” he said. “We must start actively encouraging reformist and moderate Muslim voices to tackle the extremists themselves, an issue I discussed with [Pakistani Prime Minister] Nawaz Sharif.”

 ‘Commonwealth must start holding its members to account’

Cameron, in Malta for the CHOGM summit, sounded an optimistic tone on the Commonwealth’s future, insisting that it can be “a force for good”.

However, he warned that it must start holding to account its members “who fail to live up to their responsibilities”, singling out the Maldives, where crowds have recently taken to the streets to protest against the jailing of political leaders, including the current opposition leader.

“What is going on in the Maldives is unacceptable,” he said.

Cameron also urged the Commonwealth to safeguard LGBTI+ rights, the expression of which is illegal in 41 out of the 53 Commonwealth nations, and to play a leading role in the fight against corruption.