Prospective UK Airstrikes in Syria Conceptually ‘Legal’ - Cameron

UK airstrikes in Syria would be legal even without UN Security Council backing.

LONDON (Sputnik) – An air campaign launched by the United Kingdom in Syria would be legal even without UN Security Council backing, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday.

“What matters most of all is that any action we would take would both be legal and would help protect our country and our people right here,” Cameron told lawmakers.

The prime minister added that UN Security council support would be preferable but Britain worries that Russia might veto it.

"They [Russia] have repeatedly threatened to veto any such resolution," he said.

Britain has been carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State jihadist group targets in Iraq since August 2014, but the UK Parliament rejected extending the campaign to Syria in a 2013 vote.

Opposition members, including Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, have criticized Cameron’s administration for conducting its anti-ISIL operation in Iraq without UN approval. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond suggested two weeks ago that a Parliament vote to send British jets to Syria would take place as soon as enough Labour members supported British airstrikes.

Chief of the Defense Staff General Sir Nicholas Houghton described the lack of British warplanes over Syria as a let-down to US-led coalition partners and their Western allies.

On Monday, Cameron said the UK Royal Air Force would not engage in Syria until a cohesive strategy is devised to address the wider political and humanitarian crisis in Syria.