Francois Hollande defends Syria weapons plan
France's president has defended his plan to supply arms to Syria's
rebels, as activists mark two years since the anti-government uprising
began.Speaking after an EU meeting, Francois Hollande said the rebels
had given guarantees that weapons would not fall into the wrong hands.
France and the UK want the EU to lift its arms embargo, but Germany
says it has not yet decided if it agrees.An estimated 70,000 people have
been killed and one million have fled Syria.The status of the rebels has
become one of the thorniest issues for foreign governments.A number of
explosions and suicide attacks have been blamed on armed groups believed
to have links to al-Qaeda and the rebels.Russia remains an ally of
President Bashar al-Assad's government and opposes arming the rebels.
The Syrian government characterises all of the rebels as “armed
gangs” or foreign-backed “terrorists”.The EU agreed the arms embargo in
April 2011.Both the UK and France now want it lifted, and have hinted
that they could take unilateral action to help the rebels if EU leaders
continue to support the embargo.In a news conference, UK Prime Minister
David Cameron said: “If we want to take individual action, [and] we
think that is in our national interest, of course we are free to do
so.Mr Hollande later said he accepted that before any weapons could be
delivered, the opposition must give “all necessary guarantees”.
“It's because we have been given those [guarantees] that we can
envisage the lifting of the embargo. We have the certainty on the use of
these weapons,” he said.Both leaders insisted they were committed to
finding a political solution, but said the world could not stand by and
watch while massacres took place.
However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had not reached a
definitive position on the issue.The fact that two [countries] have
changed their position is not enough for 25 others to follow suit,” she
said.EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss the arms embargo again
in Dublin on 22-23 March.
The UK has indicated that it might veto a forthcoming vote, due in
May, to extend the embargo beyond its 1 June deadline.The BBC's Chris
Morris in Brussels says the French and British largely share the view
that Russia and Iran are arming government forces, so providing weapons
to the opposition is the only way to put pressure on the Assad
regime.However, our correspondent says Germany, Austria and Sweden are
among the EU states believed to be reluctant to lift the embargo.
16 March BBC
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