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| William Hague set for climbdown over Syrian arms embargo | ||
| 2013-05-27 | ||
| British efforts to persuade the European Union to lift the arms embargo to Syrian rebels are likely to be rejected on Monday in the face of continued opposition from EU members alarmed that weapons could fall into the wrong hands. The foreign secretary, William Hague, is to join with the French to table a call for watering down the embargo at a meeting of other EU foreign ministers. But several countries – notably Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden – oppose it for fear that weapons might fall into the hands of Islamic extremist groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra. Germany has been trying to fashion a compromise.
But Labour has questioned whether lifting the embargo is legal or politically wise. "How would the government prevent British-supplied weapons falling into the wrong hands, and how does supplying weapons help to secure a lasting peace?" asked Douglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary. "Syria today is awash with arms and in the House of Commons this week MPs on all sides expressed real concern about the identity, intent and tactics of some of the rebel forces. "In Washington the prime minister clearly failed to convince President Obama of his case, so tomorrow in Brussels the UK's use of the veto would confirm that the prime minister had also failed to convince our European partners." The UK-French attempt to lift the arms embargo has not been made any easier by the continued lack of unity within the rebel movement. Talks failed on Sunday to end a factional dispute over proposals to dilute Qatar's influence on rebel forces, with Saudi Arabia angling to play a greater role now that Iranian-backed Hezbollah is openly fighting for Assad. Labour argued that the EU common position – an agreement that is usually a precursor to legislation – says member states must deny an export licence if there is a clear risk that the equipment might be used to commit violations of international humanitarian law or human rights. The UN commission of inquiry in Syria reported in February that the rebels have committed war crimes, saying "war crimes, including murder, extrajudicial killings and torture, were perpetrated by anti-government armed groups". A broader package of EU sanctions against Syria must in any case be renewed at this week's meeting, and if there is total deadlock on the related issue of an arms embargo the entire EU sanctions regime could collapse. Many obstacles remain in the way of a peace conference taking place, including Russia's insistence that Iran be allowed to attend.
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| Posted by:Steve White |