Press TV - European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has rejected a military solution tothe Syria crisis following a US missile strike which has escalated tensions in the Middle East.
"As for Syria, it was reaffirmed during the Brussels conference organized last week that there is no military solution to the crisis in Syria," Mogherini saidat a news conference in Algiers on Sunday.
"For this issue, the European Union is very clear and very firm, there is no possibility for a military solution to the crisis," she added.
Mogherini said the United States is a friend of the EU, adding the bloc hopes the UScan agree with the EU on a political solution to the Syrian crisis.
Top aides to Trump on Sunday demurred over where USpolicy on Syriawas headed after themissile strike, leavingopen questions about whether topplingSyrian leader Basharal-Assad was now one of Trump's goals.
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EU chief diplomat Federica Mogherini reacts to questions from the media as she meets with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Feb. 9, 2017 at the State Department in Washington.[/caption]After the attack, Trump administration officials saidthey were prepared to take further actions if necessary.
Trump's United Nations ambassador, Nikki Haley, said theUnited States had "multiple priorities" in Syria and thatstability there was impossible with Assad as president.
Her comments appeared at odds with those of Secretary ofState Rex Tillerson, who said the USmissile strike was aimedsolely at deterring the use of chemical weapons.
"There is no change to our military posture" in Syria,Tillerson said on ABC's 'This Week' program, adding once Daeshwasdefeated, the UScould turn its attention totrying to help bring about a "political process" in Syria.
"It is through that political process that we believe theSyrian people will ... be able to decide the fate of Basharal-Assad," Tillerson said.
Germans disapprove of US strike
Most Germans believe theUS missile attack on al-Shayrat airbase was the wrong thing to do, a poll has found.
The survey, ordered by Bild am Sonntag newspaper and conducted by Emnid-TNS company, found that 59 percent of the people in Germany disapproved of the strike on the Syrian airfield.
According to the poll, only 26 percentapproved of the Washingtons decision to fire Tomahawk missiles at the Syrian military site.
The US military launched 59 missiles during the early hours of Friday targeting an airbase in the Syrian province of Homs.
Syria's official SANA news agency said nine civilians, including four children, were killed and seven people were injured. The attack also killed six Syrian soldiers and left big material loss at al-Shayrat airbase.
On President Donald Trumps order, the US launched the strike on the Syrian airfield, citing an alleged chemical weapons attack in the town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib province days earlier. Damascus has categorically denied carrying out a chemical attack.
The survey also revealed that 80 percent of the respondents think no more attacks should be made on Syrian territory while only nine percent would welcome further US strikes on the country.
According to the poll, 40 percent of Germans fear the attack can trigger a military conflict between Moscow and Washington, while 53 percent do not think it is a possible outcome.
FM Gabriel concerned
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Sunday expressed concerns over the escalation of tensions between Russia and the US following the military attack.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="555"]
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel welcomes Norwegian Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide (not in picture), prior to a meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin on April 6, 2017. (Photo by AFP)[/caption]He also urged international experts to help conduct a probe into the alleged chemical weapons assault.
It is important that the UN and experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) gain immediate access and can carry out their investigation without hindrance,Gabriel said in an interview with Bild newspaper.
Russia and Iran have also called for sending professionals to investigate, saying that it isthe only way to receive and present to the whole international community any objective evidence on the alleged presence of poisonous substances.
According to the Kremlin, Syrian jets struck a terrorist warehouse in Idlib that contained toxic chemicals, leading to a gas leak in the area. More than 80 people were reportedly killed in the incident on April 4.
French far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon on Sundaydenounced Trump's decision to launch missile strikes in Syria as a "criminal, irresponsible act."
Melenchon said in a campaign speech focusing on international issues that the USmissile attack on a Syrian air base was a "huge mistake" that would only increase tensions.
He saidhe wantedFrance to pull out of NATO to avoid a confrontation with Russia.Melenchon told a big crowd gathered in Marseille: "If you want peace, do not get the wrong ballot paper."
