BERLIN, April 14, 2018 (News agencies) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday backed air strikes by the United States, France and Britain as a "necessary and appropriate" action to warn Syria against further use of chemical weapons. "We support the fact that our American, British and French allies have taken responsibility in this way as permanent members of the UN Security Council," Merkel said. Merkel this week had said Germany would not take part in any military action against Syria. German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday backed Western air strikes on Syria as justified given a suspected poison gas attack, but called for fresh efforts to reenergise a U.N.-led peace process to end the Syrian civil war. "Everything must now be done to revive the political process of the Geneva talks and to end the suffering of the Syrian people," von der Leyen, a conservative, told reporters in the northern German city of Hanover. ‘Bombs won't save lives' in Syria, UK opposition leader British opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said today that Prime Minister Theresa May should have sought approval from parliament before ordering cruise missile strikes against Syria. "Bombs won't save lives or bring about peace. This legally questionable action risks escalating further," Corbyn, a veteran anti-war campaigner, said. "Britain should be playing a leadership role to bring about a ceasefire in the conflict, not taking instructions from Washington and putting British military personnel in harm's way. "Theresa May should have sought parliamentary approval, not trailed after Donald Trump." US, British and French forces launched air strikes on Syria in response to a suspected poison gas attack that killed dozens of people, aiming to degrade its chemical weapons capabilities in the biggest intervention yet in the conflict by Western powers.
