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full screen Great Britain’s foreign minister David Lammy says that the country has been in contact with terrorist-classified HTS, which rules Syria. Archive image. Photo: Aurel Obreja/AP/TT
Britain and the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have had diplomatic contacts, says British Foreign Secretary David Lammy to the BBC.
– We want to see a representative government, an inclusive government. We want to see that the stockpiles of chemical weapons are secured and not used, and we want to make sure that there is no continued violence, he says of the conversation.
On Saturday, it was announced that the US has also been in contact with the HTS rebels who have taken control of Syria.
On Sunday, Great Britain announced a humanitarian aid package of 50 million pounds, equivalent to nearly 700 million Swedish kronor, to vulnerable Syrians.
– For all these reasons, we try to use the channels we have available to handle HTS where we have to, says Lammy according to the British public service company.
When asked if HTS could be removed from the UK’s list of terrorist groups, the Foreign Secretary said the rebel group was still an al-Qaida-descended organisation.
– We will judge them by their actions, I will not comment on future bans but of course we realize that this is an important moment for Syria, he adds.