Bishop questions silence on Syria violence

The Bishop of Bristol has criticised the Government’s lack of interest in the “wholesale slaughter” taking place in Syria.

Scores have reportedly been left dead after the Syrian army sent in tanks to Hama on Sunday to crush the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Bishop Mike Hill said: “I can’t be the only person wondering why the West, having rapidly decided that intervention in Libya was a righteous and necessary cause, seem less interested in the wholesale slaughter taking place in Syria.”

Foreign Secretary William Hague has ruled out the possibility of military intervention because the Arab League has not called for it.

Bishop Hill questioned the Government’s stance and particularly its decision to apply sanctions, saying that they were likely to adversely affect civilian populations more than politicians and soldiers.

He called for a cautious approach to the Arab Spring after the murder of one of Libya’s senior rebel commanders.

Reports that General Abdel Fattah Younes was killed by someone from within the rebel ranks is a “cause for concern”, the bishop said.

“All this seems to add up to a foreign policy mess,” he said.

“We Brits, of all people, should know that an early spring can quickly fizzle out, become protracted and rob us of our summer.”