BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the Syria conflict (all times local):
2:45 p.m.
About 350 protesters from communist organizations in Cyprus have gathered in front of the entrance gate of a British air base to denounce U.S.-led airstrikes against suspected chemical weapons sites in Syria.
Protest leader Akis Poullos says they are demanding the closure of RAF Akrotiri, from where four British Tornado warplanes took off to take part in the missile strike.
Poullos said Sunday’s demonstration was also a message to the Cyprus government not to lend any assistance to “imperialist attacks” on Syria and to demand an end to the war in the country.
Protesters used red paint to write “NATO killers go home” on a nearby wall outside the base’s gate.
Former colonial ruler Britain retained RAF Akrotiri and another military base on Cyprus after the east Mediterranean island gained independence in 1960.
The Cyprus government said it wasn’t given any forewarning about Saturday’s airstrikes. It also said British Prime Minister Theresa May assured Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades that there’s no danger to Cyprus and that Cypriots can feel secure.
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2:30 p.m.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says he hopes there is no need for additional strikes against Syria, but that Britain and its allies will consider further action if Syrian President Bashar Assad uses chemical weapons in the future.
Johnson told the BBC on Sunday the airstrikes were proportionate and showed “the world has said enough is enough.”
He says “so far, thank heavens, the Assad regime has not been so foolish to launch another chemical weapons attack,” adding that Britain and its allies “would study what the options were” in the event of another attack.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn says the airstrikes were “legally debatable” and that Britain must abide by international law if it wants the moral high ground. He is demanding legislation to give Parliament more scrutiny over military action.
The U.S., France and Britain launched missiles at Syrian military targets early Saturday in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus a week ago.
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1:45 p.m.
Syrian state TV says another 5,000 security forces are deploying in a town near the capital that was brought under full government control a week after an alleged chemical attack.
Douma was the last rebel holdout in the eastern Ghouta suburbs, the target of a massive government offensive in February and March. The town was also the scene of a suspected poison gas attack on April 7 that prompted the U.S., Britain and France to launch missiles on Syrian military targets early Saturday.
The Syrian government and its ally Russia have denied allegations of a chemical attack. An international fact-finding mission from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is in Syria and expected to visit Douma.
State-run Al-Ikhbariya TV says a second batch of 5,000 security forces deployed in Douma on Sunday.
Syrian newspapers meanwhile boasted that the country’s air defense systems had shot down missiles.
The front-page headline of the government daily Tishrin reads: “Our heroic army shoots down the missiles of aggression.”
The Pentagon says none of the missiles were shot down and that Syria’s air defenses were ineffective.
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1:35 p.m.
Pope Francis says he is “deeply disturbed” by the international community’s failure to come up with a common response to the crises in Syria and other parts of the world.
The pontiff said after his traditional Sunday blessing that “despite the tools available to the international community, it is difficult to agree on a common action toward peace in Syria or other regions of the world.”
Francis called on “all people of goodwill” to join him in praying for peace, and appealed to political leaders to help “justice prevail.”
The pope spoke after airstrikes by the United States, France and Britain aimed at taking out Syria’s chemical weapons capacity, following a suspected poison gas attack on a Damascus suburb that killed dozens, including children.
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1:15 p.m.
A group of Russian politicians has met with Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose mood they describe as good a day after Western airstrikes.
In Assad’s view, the airstrikes that were launched in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack by Syrian forces on the town of Douma will unify the country. That’s according to Dmitry Sablin, a member of the lower house of the Russian parliament, who was quoted by Russian news agencies.
Natalya Komarova, governor of Russia’s Khanty-Mansiysk region, also attended Sunday’s meeting. She says: “President Assad has an absolutely positive attitude, a good mood.”
Sablin was quoted as saying that Assad estimates rebuilding the country after years of war would cost $400 billion.
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11 a.m.
France is urging Russia to join a push for a political solution in Syria after joint U.S., French and British attacks on Syrian chemical weapons sites.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in an interview published Sunday in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper that “we should join our efforts to promote a political process in Syria that would allow a way out of the crisis.”
France has continued to talk regularly with Russia even as East-West tensions have grown. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, hours before the Western missile strikes.
Western countries blamed Syria’s government for a chemical attack on a rebel-held area earlier this month that killed more than 40 people. The Syrian government and its ally Russia denied the allegations.
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