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UK attacks Russian support for Syria regime after US airstrikes

The UK government has attacked Russia's role in alliance with the Syria regime as international tensions continue in the aftermath of the suspected chemical attack and retaliatory US airstrikes.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has pulled out of a visit to Moscow saying "we deplore Russia's continued defence of the Assad regime".

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has said Russia is responsible for "every civilian death" in Bashar Assad's suspected sarin attack on his own people.

US President Donald Trump has meanwhile written to both chambers of Congress justifying his decision to launch the retaliation strikes.

US senator John McCain has told ITV News the US and its allies must add momentum to Mr Trump's intervention by working to force President Assad out.

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Saudi monarch congratulates Trump over Syria strike

King Salman said Donald Trump's response to the chemical attack was the right one. Credit: AP

Saudi monarch King Salman has congratulated Donald Trump for his "courageous decision" to carry out a missile strike on a Syria airbase.

The strikes were ordered by the US President in retaliation for an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria, which has been blamed on the country's government.

The official Saudi Press Agency reported that Salman spoke to the US president by telephone on Friday.

Saudi Arabia said the missile launch by Mr Trump was the right response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it".

The kingdom is among the most vehement opponents of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and supports Sunni rebel groups fighting to oust him.

The Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia are engaged in a power struggle for regional dominance with Iran's Shia government, and view Tehran's support of Mr Assad as a threat to the region.

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