Labor MPs Warn of Arming Syria Rebels, Cameron Invites Opposition Leader

Local Editor

Senior Labor MPs warned British Labor leader Ed Miliband against a decision to support intervention in Syria saying it will trigger "internal warfare" in the party.

The warning comes as Prime Minister David Cameron took a rare move to invite the opposition leader to the meeting of the National Security Council on Syria, raising speculations that Cameron is trying to talk the opposition into backing anti-Syria military action.

Cameron's government pledged to put any decision on sending arms to Syrian militants to the parliamentary vote.
Labor votes could be crucial for the PM to get a parliamentary approval as Cameron is already facing opposition from Conservative backbenchers as well as from his coalition partners in the Liberal Democrat camp.

Labor has sat on the fence over delivery arms to Syrian militants over concerns that the weapons end up in the hands of al-Qaeda rather than Syrian foreign-backed terrorists.
Miliband has also advised Cameron to "build the greatest possible consensus" across political parties on the matter.

This comes as a senior Labor MP has warned of "internal warfare" within Labor over arming Syrian militants saying it is staunchly opposed by nine in ten Labor MPs.
Miliband previously said Labor will only back arming the rebels in Syria if it could be guaranteed that the arms would not fall into the hands of extremists and that such a move would not prolong the conflict.

A Labor Party spokesman declined to comment on Miliband's presence at Tuesday's meeting, saying it was not unusual for an opposition leader to be invited to attend.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team