EU ‘can’t stand by and watch Syria bloodbath go on’

 
17 March 2013

Britain today warned that the EU cannot stand by and watch tens of thousands more Syrians die in a bloody civil war now entering its third year.

At an EU summit in Brussels, David Cameron and French President François Hollande piled pressure on other leaders to allow the arming of rebels fighting dictator Bashar Assad.

The move threatens to escalate tension with Russia and Iran, which are said to be supplying weapons to Assad’s regime. The unrest began on March 15 2011 with nationwide protests following arrests in the southern city of Deraa.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “We cannot see another year pass with tens of thousands more lives lost and millions more refugees created. The risks to Syria, the region and to our own security are too great.

“That is why the Prime Minister and President Hollande will press EU leaders to think again about what we can do to support the Syrian opposition and create the conditions for a political settlement to the conflict.” The Anglo-French push to relax an arms embargo so weapons can be supplied to “moderate” opposition forces came amid reports that rebel soldiers, who have been secretly trained by US forces in Jordan, are being deployed back into Syria. A 300-strong unit recently completed anti-missile and anti-tank training, according to reports. Britain is purchasing armoured cars, body armour and night vision goggles to be shipped to the rebels. The vehicles are to be used to protect opposition leaders as well as humanitarian agency staff.

France is leading calls for a meeting in May, at which the EU arms embargo could be amended, to be brought forward, possibly to the end of this month. Syria was not originally on the agenda at the EU summit, whose main focus had been tackling the economic crisis. Arming the rebels is meeting resistance from Labour in Britain and some EU nations who are concerned that the weapons could fall into the hands of extremist groups and prolong the conflict.

But British and French diplomats believe that the likelihood of a political solution will be boosted if the rebels, already believed to be getting weapons from Gulf states, are further strengthened.

“There is a perversity about the EU arms embargo... it is backfiring,” said one Downing Street official. “The embargo does not stop those aiding Assad, but it does stop those who want to help the opposition.”

Meanwhile, Syria today warned it may strike at rebels hiding in neighbouring Lebanon if the Lebanese army does not act.

Syria’s foreign ministry told its Lebanese counterpart that a “large number” of militants had crossed Lebanon’s northern border into the Syrian town of Tel Kalakh over the past two days.

“Syria expects the Lebanese side to prevent these armed terrorist groups from using the borders as a crossing point, because they target Syrian people and are violating Syrian sovereignty,” a diplomatic cable said.

An estimated 70,000 people have died in the civil war and about one million have fled Syria for neighbouring countries.

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