Sinn Féin’s Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Seán Crowe TD, has spoken out against the reported plans of Britain, France and the USA to militarily attack Syria.

Crowe believes that further military intervention from foreign countries will only increase the death and destruction that the Syrian people are experiencing, and he called on called on world leaders to use their influence in the conflict to secure a cease fire and peace talks.

Deputy Crowe said:

“Sinn Féin opposed the lifting of the EU arms embargo on Syria at the end of May. We opposed it because we felt that flooding the country with more weapons will only cause more violence and bloodshed, and not bring peace.

“Syrians, like people all over the world, have a right to live in peace and free from fear.

“They also have a right to democracy and the highest standards of human rights.

“Recently we have all seen the horrifying images of civilians, and mainly children, suffering what seem to be the fatal effects of poisonous gas in a Damascus suburb. These images, as are most of the images coming from the war thorn country, are extremely distressing.

“The exact circumstance surrounding this incident is still unclear.

“Actions against the civilian population from any participant or groups in this conflict are wrong and must stop immediately.

“This week a UN inspection team were able to visit the site. Unfortunately at one stage on Monday it was forced to turn back, because one of its vechicles came under sniper attack. This shows the volatile and dangerous conditions that prevail through-out Syria at the moment.

“The rhetoric from some Western countries, such as Britain, France and the USA, seems to suggest they are gearing up to directly militarily attack Syria. There seems to be no clear plan and strategy for these attacks, what they hope to achieve and how they will bring peace to Syria.

“So far it is estimated that over 100,000 people have already been killed in Syria’s civil war and over 1.5 million have been made refugees. Any further military intervention from foreign countries will just bring more death and destruction to Syria.

“As we have seen in Iraq, Afghanistan, and continued drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, innocent people will be killed in huge numbers by these military strikes, as these weapons don’t distinguish between soldiers and civilians, and militants and children.

“The best and only way to stop the conflict is through peace talks and a peace process. World leaders need to be using their influence to secure a cease fire and bring all sides in this civil war to the table for serious discussion on a peace process.

“Meaningful dialogue involving all sections of the Syrian people must be established to address all of the grave issues currently facing the citizens of Syria.

“There was a window for this that has been missed by the international community. All efforts must be re-established to seek a resolution based on negotiation and dialogue.

“World leaders should be rational and smart enough to know that European and American bombs won’t bring peace to Syria. They cannot bomb Syria into peace.

“A large scale bombardment of Syria also won’t help establish democracy and respect for human rights in the country. Only a negotiated peace settlement and process will do that.

“Military intervention will in no way improve the situation and may very well destabilise the region further in what is a very serious situation.”

ENDS