Scottish Catholic Observer

Alistair Dutton, director of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF), said British interventions had served to strengthen opposition forces and prolong the conflict, now nearing its six-year anniversary.

He called on UK ministers to accept that the best option for stability in the country is for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to regain control.

Mr Dutton made the remarks during a visit to Lebanon to raise awareness of the charity’s Christmas appeal for refugees from the conflict. His comments come as Syrian government forces took the city of Aleppo (above right) after a four-year campaign.

“British foreign policy is appalling towards Syria,” Mr Dutton said. “It is naive to the point of being totally unrealistic and everybody I speak to in the region says we have got it wrong, and we are only making the situation worse and prolonging the civil war.”

He added that senior figures from the region had said the best solution was to build a future that allows Assad to be leader. He stressed: “I’m not an apologist for Assad. What is happening in Aleppo is unforgivable. I’m as disgusted as anyone by the dreadful atrocities he has committed.

“But no matter how immoral and inhumane his actions, holding to the current stance on Assad will only prolong the war and the unimaginable suffering of the Syrian people.

“His inhumanity should be contained by human rights monitors, backed up by UN peacekeepers, which should be part of any settlement, not by the hopeless insistence that he is removed.”

The UK government has provided ‘non-lethal’ equipment and political support to moderate Syrian opposition groups in the region. Mr Dutton said such intervention was a ‘pure ego trip for people who say something must be done.’

The SCIAF director further hit out at UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia amid its involvement in the Yemen civil war.

“The British government must stop supplying military equipment and technical support to the Saudi regime while it brutally commits war crimes and human rights abuses on the civilian Houthi population,” he said.

On Syria, a Foreign Office spokesman said: “Assad continues to refuse to let the UN deliver supplies to the hundreds of thousands of people he is besieging.

“Even if Assad re-imposes his rule over Aleppo, millions of Syrians will remain unwilling to accept the dominance of a tyrant who has the blood of hundreds of thousands on his hands. The only real solution for peace and stability in Syria is an enduring political solution based on transition away from the Assad regime to a government representative of all Syrians.”

Referring to Saudi Arabia, the spokesman added: “We take our arms export responsibilities very seriously and operate one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world.

“The key test for our continued arms exports to Saudi Arabia is whether there is a clear risk that those weapons might be used in a serious violation of international humanitarian law. The situation is kept under careful and continual review.”