Alistair Burt: Not all islamist groups are enemy groups

Alistair Burt MP, a Conservative MP and former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said it was crucial to build alliance in the region to combat the rise of IS.

He praised the Islamic world's rejection of IS, and said they were "deeply upset" at the use of the Islamic title and said "they’re not Islamic and they’re not a state.”

But he also emphasised that “not all Islamist groups are enemy groups” and said it was important to recognise that "groups labelling themselves in a particularly way...are not always what they seem.”

He praised the British Muslim community saying that their reaction to IS had been "very dramatic and very strong."

He also emphasised that Assad was not a friend in Syria and that he had been in league with IS because his "greatest fear is his people, not those extremists."

He called for "an end to the intolerance in the region" and "sect against sect" warning that "intolerance runs through the region like a stick of rock."