British forces do not know location of Isis hostage, says Hammond

British forces are unable to rescue hostages being held by Islamist militants because they do not know where they are being detained, Philip Hammond said as he met his counterparts to discuss the fight against Isis.

The UK foreign secretary said the government would be able to look at "all sorts of options" if they knew where the hostages were, but said the intelligence services did not have that information. Isis militants murdered David Haines, a UK aid worker, at the weekend and are threatening to kill a second British hostage, Alan Henning.

"We don't know where he is. Obviously, if we knew where he was, we would be able to look at all sorts of options but we don't know where he is," said the foreign secretary. "We have considered every possible option to support these kidnap victims - both British and others - and if we knew where they were, it would be a different story but we don't know where they are."

Mr Hammond was speaking after a summit of foreign ministers in Paris who had gathered in response to the US's announcement last week that it intended to put together a broad coalition to fight the militants simultaneously in Iraq and Syria. He said he had made it clear that Britain will "play a leading role" in the coalition.

"We cannot be deterred from our strategic object in crushing Isil [Islamic State in the Levant] and the barbarous ideology it is trying to impose on the region," Mr Hammond said. The foreign secretary did not give details on any action that could be taken, but said the prospect of air strikes in Syria remained on the table.

"That would be an order of magnitude more difficult than air strikes in Iraq, for all sorts of reasons military, legal and technical, but we haven't ruled it out. I have said this morning in the meeting that Britain is clear it will play a leading role in this coalition."

Behind the rhetoric, Downing Street on Monday was taking a holding position ahead of the UN summit next week as it waited for cues from the White House. President Obama announced last week he intended to put together a broad coalition to fight the militants simultaneously in Iraq and Syria and is set to outline more concrete plans at the UN in New York.

One official played down the prospects of any decisions on military action being taken ahead of that meeting next week. The UK and US have ruled out sending ground troops to areas of Iraq and Syria controlled by Isis fighters, while the UK has yet to commit to support US air strikes.

"This diplomatic process is ongoing," said a spokesman for No 10. This was because "at the heart" of its approach was deciding "how we best put in place support on the ground rather than intervening over their heads".

The prime minister is attending a UN summit in New York that will be used as a platform for the US to showcase its coalition against Isis. If they agree to joint air strikes against Isis, he is expected to recall MPs. Mr Cameron has intensified his criticism of Isis since the murder of James Foley, the US journalist, last month. But his options are sharply circumscribed by the US.

Those familiar with Number 10's thinking point to both the abortive parliamentary vote in Syria last year and France's strident stance over the conflict - which later left President Hollande internationally isolated - as lessons to keep in mind when second-guessing the US's intentions.

Mr Cameron is under pressure from hawks within the Conservative party, including Liam Fox, his former defence secretary, who want the government to join air strikes.

The Labour party, which last summer voted against UK air strikes in Syria, said it was not ruling anything out, suggesting that the opposition may fall into line if the UK government does decide to launch joint strikes with the US.

Ακολουθήστε το Euro2day.gr στο Google News!Παρακολουθήστε τις εξελίξεις με την υπογραφη εγκυρότητας του Euro2day.gr

FOLLOW USΑκολουθήστε τη σελίδα του Euro2day.gr στο Linkedin

. . .

Home secretary makes pledge to keep 'brutal ideology' off the streets

Theresa May has vowed to keep UK residents safe from Islamist terrorists, as the home secretary condemned on Monday the "barbaric" murder of British aid worker David Haines, writes Elizabeth Rigby.

Addressing an audience at a private event at Harvard University, she said she was determined to keep the "brutal ideology" off British streets.

"Our message has to be clear. The UK, like the US, will not allow these grotesque acts to stop us from keeping our homelands secure and stopping the march of this brutal ideology."

Some 500 Britons are thought to have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight with jihadi groups such as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as Isis.

The UK announced new powers this month to seize terrorist suspects' passports and stop British-born extremists from returning to the UK. The government is also introducing powers to relocate suspects and force terrorists to undergo de-radicalisation programmes.

© The Financial Times Limited 2014. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation