China ‘opposes’ Syria attack, Iraq urges clear Arab stance

Reactions continue to pour in following joint airstrikes by the US, the UK and France on Syria, with China expressing its opposition to the attack and Iraq urging Arab leaders to adopt a “clear” stance on the issue.

Chinese Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Saturday that Beijing was “opposed to the use of force” following the tripartite aerial assaults against Syria and called for a “return to the framework of international law.”

“We consistently oppose the use of force in international relations, and advocate respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries,” she said in a statement.

Additionally on Saturday, an Iraqi Foreign Ministry statement carried by state television said Baghdad had called on Arab leaders to “take a clear position” about Syria at an upcoming summit in Saudi Arabia.

Iraq warned that the were a “very dangerous” development that could fuel a Takfiri resurgence in the region.

A statement by foreign ministry spokesman Ahmad Mahjoub said the strikes’ “consequences threaten the security and stability of the region.”

“Such action could have dangerous consequences, threatening the security and stability of the region and giving terrorism another opportunity to expand after it was ousted from Iraq and
forced into Syria to retreat to a large extent,” it said.

Mahjoub said said the ministry was “worried” and called for a “political solution that would satisfy the aspirations of the Syrian people.”

Iraq’s foreign ministry also called on an Arab League summit to be held on Sunday in Saudi Arabia to “adopt a clear position concerning this dangerous development.”

The Iraqi government declared victory over the Daesh group in December after pushing Takfir terrorists out of their final holdouts along the border with Syria.

But the group retains the capacity to strike despite losing control of vast swathes of Iraqi territory it seized in 2014 and still clings to pockets of desert in war-torn Syria.

Syria came under attack one week after a suspected chemical weapons attack hit the Syrian town of Douma near Damascus.

Western countries blamed the incident on the Syrian government, but Damascus rejected the accusations as “chemical fabrications” made by the terrorists themselves in a bid to halt pro-government forces’ advances.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Saturday’s strikes as a “brutal, barbaric aggression,” saying they would only ignite “tensions in the world and pose threat to the international peace and security as a whole.”