UAE deeply concerned by escalating Syrian crisis

The country has expressed its support for Saturday's actions to destroy chemical weapons

A British Tornado taxis into its hangar after landing in Cyprus, after its mission to conduct strikes in Syria. MoD via AP

The UAE backs the air strikes on Syria and supports all international measures to remove and destroy the country’s chemical weapons, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations has said in a statement.

The statement also said the UAE is deeply concerned by the escalating situation in Syria.

The US, UK and France launched a coordinated air campaign of strikes on Saturday morning, targeting a research centre, two chemical weapons facilities and an Assad regime command centre in response to the use of chemical weapons in rebel-held Douma, a week previously.

The UAE statement said the country supports all international measures that aim to remove and destroy the internationally-prohibited weapons and stressed the need to prevent them from falling into the hands of armed terrorist groups.

“The United Arab Emirates sees that political solution is the foundation for addressing the Syrian crisis and for ending the suffering and violence there, on the basis of relevant international legitimacy resolutions, particularly the Security Council Resolution 2254 and the Geneva I Communique,” said the statement.

It added that the UAE believes the crisis will continue to pose a serious danger to Syria's unity, and lead to mounting casualties.

"At the same time, the UAE reiterates that it is a necessity to have an active Arab role in the political endeavours to find a political solution," it said.

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The air strikes, which began at 4am local time in Syria, were announced by Donald Trump, the US President, in a televised statement from the White House.

The mission was designed to “establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread, and use of chemical weapons”, Mr Trump said.