Italian FM Bonino warns of ‘selective intelligence’ on Syria

Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino on Wednesday injected a heavy dose of scepticism into the debate over whether the West should intervene in Syria in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

“Selective intelligence has already been a cause of some other intervention, which didn’t prove very positive,” Bonino said, referring to the war in Iraq.

“I strongly believe that chemical weapons are a crime against humanity and what happened is really unacceptable, and the responsible have to be brought to be accountable,” she said, but added that it is not “wise” to intervene without United Nations Security Council approval.

“It’s also worrying that people are already preparing a coalition of the willing even before tabling a resolution at the UN,” she said. “Frankly, I don’t know what they – this coalition is really willing to do. Punish Assad? Ending the conflict? I don’t know. It’s totally not clear to me.”

The United Kingdom on Wednesday met with the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council to discuss a possible resolution on Syria; but the full Council did not meet, which would have to happen for a resolution to be approved.

“We should be very, very cautious in intervening again in what is already a powderkeg,” Bonino told Amanpour.