No EU deal on lifting arms ban to rebels in Syria

Syria’s devastating conflict entered its third year with no agreement among EU leaders on British and French calls for an easing of the bloc’s embargo to allow arms supplies to the rebels.

With several member states expressing strong opposition, EU leaders at a summit in Brussels put off further discussions on the future of the arms embargo until a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Dublin next week.

EU president Herman Van Rompuy said leaders had discussed easing it and “agreed to task our foreign ministers to assess the situation as a matter of priority” in Ireland.

Both London and Paris had warned they were ready to break ranks with their European partners to supply weapons to the rebels as their frustration mounts that diplomacy has failed to end the conflict.

But there appeared little appetite among other Europeans for lifting the ban, many fearing a flood of weapons into Syria will only escalate the bloodshed.

Austrian chancellor Werner Faymann said Vienna was not prepared to lift the ban. “We think the delivery of arms does not contribute to a possible solution,” he told reporters.

A Spanish diplomatic source said there was widespread hesitation about arming the rebels.

Under the rallying cry “Two years of sacrifice towards victory,” protesters yesterday held anti-regime protests in several areas of the strife-torn country including Damascus, Aleppo in the north and Daraa in the south.

“Long Live Syria! Down with (president) Bashar al-Assad!” chanted demonstrators in the village of Harra in Daraa, activists said, adding that regime forces shelled the village.

“Despite all the killing and destruction, I have hope for the country,” said Abu Ghazi, an activist in the flashpoint central city of Hama.

“Two years into the revolution, we realise how far we have come.”

The conflict erupted on Mar 15, 2011 when protesters inspired by Arab world uprisings took to the streets of cities and towns across Syria for unprecedented demonstrations to demand democratic change.

Despite the demonstrators being unarmed, peaceful and made up of many women and children, Assad’s forces unleashed a brutal crackdown, opening fire on them and prompting an ever-growing number to take up arms.