Spain rules out Syria invasion as 'illegal' under national law
Wednesday, September 11, 2013 @ 7:55 PM
SPAIN will not take part in any military incursion into Syria 'under any circumstances', says foreign affairs minister José Manuel García-Margallo.
During a Parliamentary congress this morning (Wednesday) – which was two hours late starting because recent rainfall had left it with a dripping ceiling – the head of Spanish diplomacy abroad said a raid on the Middle Eastern country would be 'against Article 19 of the Law of Defence', although he did not state on which point.
President Mariano Rajoy has already come under fire from the opposition for having signed a pact along with the USA and the rest of the G20 refusing to condone Syria's chemical weapons attacks, claiming that 'clear evidence' pointed to their being the work of the régime of Bashar Al-Assad, and agreeing on 'severe international action' in retaliation.
As a result, Rajoy was due to speak in Parliament today, the first session after the summer break, but declined to do so in the end and handed the reins to Margallo.
Stating that 'a chemical weapons attack cannot be left without a response', the foreign minister said Spain would adhere to the advice of the UN's Security Council with the aim of ensuring that 'nobody, ever again, under any circumstances' will be able to repeat the atrocities seen in Syria, which left over 1,000 adults and 400 children – all civilians – gassed to death in a suburb of the capital, Damascus.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com