UK in contingency plans mode, says British MoD

Plans for a potential military action against Syria are still being examined, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. The options for British involvement in an operation against the Assad regime will be discussed during a National Security Council meeting today.

The current situation is all about contingency planning,” an MoD spokesman in London said on Wednesday, asked by the Cyprus News Agency to comment on whether there is any intention to use the British Bases on the island for any action taken against Syria. “So we can’t say anything more than what Prime Minister Cameron has said,” he added.

The National Security Council is expected to determine the preferred course of action. The Parliament has been recalled from its summer recess four days earlier and MPs will have the chance to vote on a “clear motion” of action, as David Cameron has said.

Britain has retained two military bases on the island since it granted Cyprus its independence in 1960.