Denis MacShane
Main Page: Denis MacShane (Labour - Rotherham)Department Debates - View all Denis MacShane's debates with the Ministry of Defence
(13 years, 5 months ago)
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Nick Harvey
Those are pre-eminently matters of foreign policy which my hon. Friend should put to the Foreign Secretary, who will have heard the question and will reflect upon it.
Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)
In terms of the killing of civilians, torture, repression, and the export and support of terrorism, does the Ministry of Defence draw any distinction between Colonel Gaddafi and Bashar al-Assad of Syria; and if so, what is it?
Nick Harvey
Again, that is predominantly a question of foreign policy, but clearly the foreign policy circumstances are very different in the two countries. In the case of Libya, a regional power invited an intervention and a UN Security Council resolution authorised all necessary force. In the case of Syria, no regional body is inviting an intervention; more to the point, as yet, there has been no progress on a UN resolution, although the UK has a draft before the UN.