BICOM

US President Donald Trump told Defence Secretary James Mattis he wanted to assassinate Syrian President Bashar Assad after a chemical weapons attack against Syrian civilians last year.

According to an excerpt from a new book by Bob Woodword about the Trump White House, Trump told Mattis: “Let’s f—ing kill him! Let’s go in. Let’s kill the f—ing lot of them.”

Mattis reportedly told Trump he’d get “right on it,” whilst simultaneously telling a senior aide they would not be going down that road. “We’re not going to do any of that. We’re going to be much more measured,” Mattis told the aide according to Woodward’s detailed account of the incident.

On Monday President Trump warned Syria and its allies, Russia and Iran, against attacking the last major rebel stronghold of Idlib province in the country’s northwest. Yesterday reports emerged that Russian aircraft began a bombing campaign against rebel-held targets in Idlib province, in anticipation of a massive ground offensive by regime forces. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Syrian army was “getting ready” to clear a “cradle of terrorism” in the province. He also rejected the warning from Trump.

The UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, called on Russia and Turkey to find a solution that avoids “a bloodbath” in Idlib. De Mistura said he was asking Turkey, Russia and Iran to meet on 10 and 11 September, followed three days later by a meeting with France, the UK, US, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Germany and Egypt, to find out whether the parties truly want a credible political settlement to the civil war.

Turkey is reportedly reinforcing its observation outposts in northern Syria by sending additional army units from the Hatay Province. In June, Turkey set up 12 observations posts in northern Syria following talks in Astana with with Russia and Iran.