Islamic State conflict: UK 'would repeat Syria drone strike'

(BBC)He said the RAF strike which killed two British Islamic State jihadists was a "perfectly legal act of self defence".
One of the men was planning an attack on a "major event" in the UK, he said.
MPs rejected UK military action in Syria two years ago - and ministers are now facing questions over the attack and calls to publish the legal advice.
Cardiff-born Reyaad Khan, 21, was killed in the precision strike in Raqqa on 21 August by a remotely-piloted aircraft "after meticulous planning", David Cameron told MPs on Monday.
The strike was the first targeted UK drone attack on a British citizen.

'Disrupt attacks'

Ruhul Amin, 26, was also killed and later identified as a British national from Aberdeen.
Mr Fallon said there was "no other way" of stopping Khan, who the prime minister said was planning "barbaric" attacks on "high-profile public commemorations" in Britain.
"There are other terrorists involved in other plots that may come to fruition over the next few weeks and months and we wouldn't hesitate to take similar action again," Mr Fallon told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
In his Commons statement, Mr Cameron said the attorney general had been consulted and agreed there was a "clear legal basis" for the strike on Khan.
But questions have been raised over the decision, with acting Labour leader Harriet Harman among those urging the government to publish the legal advice.
She called for "independent scrutiny" of the attack, asking: "Why didn't the attorney general authorise this specific action rather than merely confirming there was a legal basis for it?"
Former attorney general Dominic Grieve said it was possible the decision taken by the government could be "legally reviewed or challenged".
Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn said "urgent consideration needs to be given to the appropriate process by which attacks such as this one are sanctioned, on what evidence and on what basis of law".
David Davis, former shadow home secretary, said he believed the strike was justified but warned of "the possibility that this translates or becomes routinised into something like the Americans' position".
And human rights group Reprieve described the air strike as "deeply worrying".
Mohamed Islam, a family friend of Khan's, called for an investigation "to see the truth of this incident", adding it was "very complicated, very sad and very hard" for Khan's family.

'Murder on our streets'

Two years ago MPs rejected possible UK military action in Syria, but last September approved British participation in air strikes against IS targets in Iraq only.
However, officials said the UK would "act immediately [in Syria] and explain to Parliament afterwards" if there was "a critical British national interest at stake".
The strike on Khan was "the first time in modern times that a British asset has been used to conduct a strike in a country where we're not involved in a war", the prime minister confirmed.
He said the strike had been approved at a meeting of "the most senior members" of the National Security Council, and authorised by Mr Fallon.
"There was a terrorist directing murder on our streets and no other means to stop him. This government does not for one moment take these decisions lightly," Mr Cameron said.
"But I am not prepared to stand here in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on our streets and have to explain to the House why I did not take the chance to prevent it when I could have done."
Reyaad Khan, from Cardiff and Ruhul Amin, from Aberdeen travelled to Syria to fight with the so-called Islamic State
Share on Google Plus

About openclickmovies

0 comments: