(29 Aug 2013) Britain's air force sent six Typhoon fighter jets to an airbase in Cyprus on Thursday, as British politicians debated the issue of possible military action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad for its alleged use of chemical weapons.
According to Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF), the six Typhoon interceptor fast jets have been deployed to the RAF's base at Akrotiri.
Britain has two sovereign air bases on the Mediterranean island.
The prospect of a dramatic US-led intervention into Syria's civil war stemmed from the West's assertion - still not endorsed by UN inspectors - that Assad's government was responsible for an alleged chemical attack on civilians outside Damascus on 21 August that Doctors Without Borders says killed 355 people.
Assad denies the claim.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday that it would be legal and just to launch a military strike against Syria even without authorisation from the United Nations Security Council, arguing that Syria could repeat its alleged use of poison gas if the international community failed to act.
Assad, meanwhile, said his country "will defend itself against any aggression" - signalling defiance to mounting Western warnings of a possible punitive strike.
His comments, made in Damascus during a meeting with a delegation from Yemen, were reported by the state news agency SANA.
Meanwhile, UN chemical weapons inspectors toured stricken rebel-held areas near the Syrian capital of Damascus for a third day on Thursday.
The inspectors' departure from Syria on Saturday could clear the path for possible military action against the Assad regime.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
