Syria
crisis: European countries expected to start arming rebels
Syrian
opposition representative in UK says 'breakthrough' is expected after
relaxation of EU rules.
1
March, 2013
Some
European countries are expected to break with Washington and start
supplying the Syrian rebels with weapons in the next few months, the
representative of the Syrian opposition in Britain has told the
Guardian.
The
National Coalition's London representative, Walid Saffour, predicted
that by the next meeting of the western and Arab Friends of Syria
group in Turkey, due in late spring or early summer, "there will
be a breakthrough that will end the restrictions of the European
countries".
"This
would be for the ammunition we require, the quality weapons we need
to deter the Syrian regime from using aeroplanes and Scud missiles to
bomb villages and bakeries," Saffour said. "We on the
ground are advancing steadily but we are suffering from a lack of
ammunition. We expect that to change at the next Friends of Syria
meeting in Istanbul."
Another
opposition figure involved in supplying the rebels said there had
been a noticeable relaxation in recent days of the strict
restrictions the US and Turkey had put on arms flows over the Turkish
border. He claimed a Syrian army helicopter and a Mig warplane had
been shot down in the past two days, for the first time by imported
missiles.
"These
were not weapons that had been captured from Syrian army bases as
before. These were released from the Turkish warehouses. These are
weapons the opposition had purchased previously but had not been
allowed to take across the border," the opposition source said.
"Before,
23mm was the maximum calibre for anti-aircraft guns permitted and we
were allowed to bring in RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] but not
armour-piercing shells. But there is a major shift on the ground now.
The policy is changing.
"I
think the shift in American attitudes goes far beyond the official
reports. I think that Washington knows it can no longer allow to let
the problem fester."
The
EU formally changed its arms embargo on Syria on Thursday to allow
the supply of armoured vehicles, non-lethal military equipment and
technical aid to the opposition. The move came as the US secretary of
state, John Kerry, made his first trip to a Muslim nation since
taking office, visiting Ankara, where he met Turkish leaders to
discuss Syria.
While
Saffour did not name the countries he expected to supply arms, the
British government, which took the lead in pushing for the relaxation
of the sanctions, is expected to act swiftly in reaction to the new
EU rules. Foreign secretary, William Hague, is due to make a
statement to parliament next week detailing the new equipment and
training the UK will give the rebels. The aid is expected to include
civilian vehicles – reinforced to provide protection against
shelling – of a kind the British government is already supplying to
UN aid workers operating in Syria.
On
British insistence, the EU embargo will come up for review in June
and the UK is expected to push for a further relaxation in what can
be provided to the opposition if there is no let-up in the
two-year-old conflict, in which more than 70,000 people are estimated
to have died.
Speaking
at the Friends of Syria meeting in Rome on Thursday, Hague stressed
military aid was possible in the future. "That will be an
important decision, of course, and has its own risks, and that is why
we haven't done that so far. But I don't rule that out," he
said.
A
British official said: "We are going to keep on raising the
pressure on the Assad regime. The Friends of Syria meeting in Rome
was not the end of a process. It is the beginning of a process."
Saffour,
the National Coalition's representative, said: "If the EU
embargo doesn't change, then some of the EU countries will change
their policy – if not openly, then quietly." He said US
officials had also told the coalition that the White House policy of
providing non-lethal aid only would come under review in the next few
months, as new members of Barack Obama's administration, such as
Kerry and the defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, enter the internal
debate.
There
have been reports over the past few weeks that the flow of arms to
rebel fighters has increased markedly, including some anti-tank
weapons made in the former Yugoslavia. The Croatian government has
denied reports that its arms industry supplied some of the weapons.
Ivica
Nekic, the managing director of the Croatian arms export agency,
said: "We would be aware of any sale from Croatia, and no
Croatian weapons have been sold to anyone in Syria."
Asked
about reports that Croatian arms were supplied through Saudi Arabia,
Nekic said Croatia had only sold the Saudi military helmets and was
in the process of negotiating a sale of pistols. Asked about other
customers in the Middle East, Nekic said: "We sell to more than
50 countries around the world. I can't speculate on every country,
and every sale we make. It would not be correct."
Muhannad
Hadi, the World Food Programme's regional emergency co-ordinator for
Syria and neighbouring countries, said the British donation of
armoured cars had already saved the lives of WFP staff delivering
food aid on both sides of the lines.
"They
turned out to be a life-saving tool. Our weapons were attacked four
times in the past several months, by mortar. And the thing is nobody
was injured."
The
WFP currently supplies food to 1.5 million people in Syria in all 14
of the country's governorates, and in many parts of the country there
are pockets with unknown populations which are beyond the agency's
reach because of fighting. Hadi said the WFP hoped to increase the
number of recipients to 2 million this month and 2.5 million next
month, but was facing a critical shortage of funding.
"If
we don't have funds in May for Syria, there will be serious problems.
There will be breaks in the pipeline. Food needs a lead time to bring
it in, with shipping and logistics, so we need the funds very, very
soon."
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