Britain and France ‘ready to arm Syrian opposition’

London and Paris are seeking to lift an EU embargo to enable them to arm Syrian rebels, said the French foreign minister.

The move has angered Damascus but has drawn a guarded welcome from the opposition.

French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said that the two governments were ready to go ahead with arms deliveries even without the support of their partners. Opposition activists called on the two governments to provide heavy weaponry not just small arms to tilt the balance in the two-year uprising against president Bashar al-Assad’s rule.