'Clean out Aleppo, clean out Raqqa' – Nuttall BACKS Assad and says he should STAY in power
UKIP leader Paul Nuttall has called for Britain to work with Bashar al-Assad and believes he should remain in power when the conflict in Syria ends.
Nuttall: The Assad regime is the lesser of two evils
Despite being accused of crimes against humanity by the UN, Assad remains in power as he continues to wage a bloody conflict across Syria.
Mr Nuttall, who succeeded Nigel Farage last week as Ukip leader, believes the UK should work with the Syrian regime to “clean out” the cities of Aleppo and Raqqa.
The 39-year-old MEP said: “The simple fact is – Assad is not a threat to global peace the way in a way that Islamic terrorism is.
“We should simply ensure that the Syrian army clean out Aleppo, clean out Raqqa and the Assad regime will stay in place but there needs to be checks and balances.”
His desire to see Mr Assad remain in power is in stark contrast to former British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was in office as the situation in Syria developed.
Last year Mr Cameron said there was no way President Assad could remain in power post-war.
He told Radio 4’s Today programme: “He can have no part in the future. I’m very clear.
“It is not just my view that you can't end up with Assad having a role in Syria: the Syrian people won’t accept it.
“What you need to do is find a government that can appeal to Alawites, Kurds, Sunnis and Christians and if you don’t have someone who can do that you won’t have a Syria that works.”
The simple fact is – Assad is not a threat to global peace the way in a way that Islamic terrorism is
US President Barack Obama was left red-faced in January when a leaked internal document admitted President Assad would outlast him.
Mr Assad assumed the Presidency in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez al-Assad.
Speaking in the days before his victory in the leadership battle was announced, Mr Nuttall also took a swipe at the BBC for what he believed was unbalanced coverage of the war in Syria, which has left nearly half-a-million people dead and millions more displaced.
The fighting in Aleppo has been some of the most brutal and costly anywhere in Syria, with what was once the country’s largest city left in ruins.
Both the Assad regime and the Russian forces supporting it have been accused of indiscriminately targeting schools and hospitals.
Discussing the BBC’s coverage of the fighting and subsequent humanitarian crisis in Aleppo, Mr Nuttall said: “What they are showing are the areas which are held by the so-called rebels which are obviously being bombed by the Syrian army and Russia.
“But they [the BBC] are not showing what is going on which is held by the Syrian government where the atrocities are just as bad if not worse and they are perpetrated by these rebels.”
Mr Nuttall said under him Ukip would promote a foreign policy which was focused on the national interest – a slight at the internationalism and interventionist stance favoured by the Government under Mr Cameron.
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“I don’t think Britain should be involving itself in far-flung foreign wars that are not in the British national interest,” he told Express.co.uk.
He admitted Britain must take “a bit” of responsibility for the crisis in the Middle East but continued to insist eliminating the threat of Islamic State should be prioritised.
A BBC spokesperson said:"Our reporting teams in Syria have covered both sides of the conflict in their despatches. "It is totally inaccurate to suggest we have not covered the conflict in government areas."