Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-10-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards are in place to prevent armed opposition fighters funded by Western countries from using their arms and training against unintended targets, or acting in a way that contradicts the Government’s overall strategy in the Middle East, in particular in Syria.

Earl Howe

The US-led programme to Train and Equip members of the moderate Syrian opposition, to which the UK has contributed, incorporated a screening process to determine the suitability of candidates. The training programme itself was designed to reinforce positive behaviours and on completion, successful candidates were required to make a formal declaration committing themselves to the fight against ISIL. Efforts continue to be made to monitor the activities of such individuals and the groups to which they are affiliated, to mitigate the risk that they engage thereafter in activities inconsistent with the aims of the programme.