Britain’s Foreign Secretary has rejected reports that Britain has stopped sharing intelligence with the US that could be used by the Americans to carry out deadly strikes against alleged narco-traffickers in the Caribbean.
Yvette Cooper, speaking on a ministerial visit to Naples, said the “long-standing intelligence and law enforcement framework” that exists between the countries was continuing as the US deployed a carrier strike group to the region.
“As you know, we don’t comment on the details of intelligence matters, but I think you’ve probably seen that the US Secretary of State has dismissed some of the reports,” he said.
Cooper was making the first public comments by a British minister following reports last week that Britain had halted a series of intelligence sharing amid concerns it believed the US bombing campaign was not legal under international law.
Marco Rubio first described the reports made by CNN as “a false story, it’s a fake story.” The US Secretary of State suggested that the story may have been spread through a business card bearing government email and argued that the reporting was inaccurate and misleading.
However, initially, the UK chose to neither confirm nor deny the report and it was widely covered. Because Britain owns some island territories in the Caribbean, it has sought to monitor the activities of suspected drug traffickers, and has exchanged intelligence on the issue with the US under a long-standing arrangement.
Meanwhile, with the arrival of the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier in the Caribbean, the US has stepped up its campaign against drug traffickers it says are linked to Venezuela and the regime of Nicolas Maduro.
The US has announced that its forces have killed 82 people since September in 21 attacks on ships it accuses of being involved in drug trafficking. Donald Trump has designated drug cartels as terrorists and his administration has said it is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with them.
However, many experts question whether the operation is legal because the drug traffickers are not attacking the United States militarily or threatening imminent attack. Evidence linking bombed ships to the drug trade is limited, although militaries must distinguish between civilian and military targets.
A handful of British naval officers – numbering in the single digits – are understood to be aboard Gerald R Ford and its supporting ships. UK defense sources indicated that they would continue to perform their duties, as the warships have not been involved in targeting alleged narco-traffickers or attacking Venezuela.
John Healey, the Defense Secretary, who also accompanied Cooper, said: “Wherever our forces are deployed, whatever they are called upon to do, as a nation we are steadfast about compliance with international humanitarian law.” Sources said Britain has no intention of joining the US in attacking Venezuela.
The two ministers were in Naples aboard the Prince of Wales, the newest of Britain’s two aircraft carriers. It was declared “mission ready” for a NATO deployment and last Friday its RAF F-35B aircraft flew a record 36 sorties in a single day.