Egypt MPs denounce 'Western tripartite aggression' against Syria
Gamal Essam El-Din, Saturday 14 Apr 2018
MPs said the American-led attack against Syria reminds of the British-led tripartite aggression against Egypt in 1956


Egypt's MPs issued statements Saturday condemning what they called "the West's tripartite aggression against Syria," urging the Arab summit in Saudi Arabia to take a united stand.

Parliamentary spokesman Salah Hassaballah said the American-led attack against Syria comes to serve Israel.

"It is in the Israeli interest that Syria remains divided and plagued by armed struggle," Hassaballah said, adding that "America's attack comes without first investigating in a transparent way whether Syria's Bashar Al-Assad has used chemical weapons."

"We all remember how the Americans used fabricated and bogus evidence on Iraq's possession of nuclear weapons to attack it in April 2003," he said, adding that "The same scenario is being used to destroy another Arab country."

The United States, Britain and France carried out a wave of punitive strikes against Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime on Saturday in response to alleged chemical weapons attacks that President Donald Trump branded the "crimes of a monster."

Tarek Radwan, head of the Egyptian parliament's foreign relations committee, said Trump's aggressive policies come after Syria was able to stem the tide of terrorist organisations on its territories.

"Their attacks today come to help terrorist organisations spread chaos in the Arab world, help Israel and settle old accounts with Russia at the expense of the Syrian people," Radwan said.

Alaa Abed, head of the parliament's human rights committee, said in a statement that the Arab summit scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia Sunday should take a united stand against "America's aggression against an Arab country".

Abed said the attack on Syria comes to serve the interests not only of Israel, but all terrorist organisations that aim to disrupt the Arab world.

"I think it is now high time that Egypt's proposal, that a joint Arab armed force be formed to defend the Arab world against foreign aggression, be discussed," he said.

Mostafa Bakri, an independent MP, said America's bullying and aggressive practices in the Arab world represent a violation of international laws and legitimacy.

Mohamed El-Akkad, an MP from the Nile Delta governorate of Beheira, said America's attack on Syria reminds all Arabs of its aggression on Iraq in 2003 and on Libya in 2011.

"They used the same lies and same conspiracies to spread chaos in the Arab world and help terrorist organisations disrupt it," Al-Aakkad said.

Al-Akkad said the West's tripartite aggression comes after Syria's national army made significant progress in the recent week fighting terrorist organisations.

"What these three countries – the US, UK and France – are doing now is a kind of international bullying," Al-Akkad said.

Hani Morgan, an independent MP, said the American-led attack on Syria reminds of the British-led tripartite aggression against Egypt in October 1956 in what came to be known as the "Suez War."

"History repeats itself and it shows that Western powers only care about their interests in this region," Morgan said.

Abdel-Hamid Kamal, a leftist MP, said "The lies used by America, Britain and France to attack Syria are the same which were used by America and Britain to invade Iraq in 2003, destroy it and leave it divided."

"They want to repeat the same scenario with Syria," Kamal said, asking that the foreign minister be summoned to parliament to address it on America's aggression and clarify Egypt's official position in this respect.

Parliament is expected to issue a statement on airstrikes launched by America and its two European allies Britain and France on some Syrian military targets Saturday.

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/297663.aspx