Syria expels diplomats, disciplines UK

The Syrian government’s decision to expel British diplomats comes after Britain geared up its saber-rattling against Syria by first publishing a fake photo and expelling Syrian diplomats from London and then reportedly planning to help Syria’s armed rebels fight against the government.

On May 27, 2012, the state-run BBC published a years-old photo of dead Iraqi children to illustrate the massacre in the Syrian city of Houla. Shortly afterwards, Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) announced the expulsion of Syrian diplomats from London.

Moreover, after British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain was “not ruling anything out but a military intervention in Syria”, British media reports revealed Special Air Service (SAS) and MI6 agents were in Syria to help armed rebels in case a civil war broke out.

Syria expelled British diplomats and a number of other Western diplomats in order to encourage them “correct” their position, as described by Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Maqdad.

“The Syrian Arab Republic still believes in the importance of dialogue based on principles of equality and mutual respect. We hope the countries that initiated these steps will adopt those principles, which would allow relations to return to normal again”, said Syria’s Foreign Ministry in a statement.