Arms from Outside, for Syria’s War

• May 29th, 2013
• Posted by Editor EUAustralia

No relief in sight for the catastrophe in Syria as outside powers play new hands.

European Union Foreign Ministers, under pressure from France and the United Kingdom, agreed to drop an arms embargo from a set of sanctions and bans that had been imposed on the country.

Both states, with a history of colonial engagement in the region, have been agitating to send armaments to selected rebel groups, in response to heavy and mortal attacks on the civilian  population.

They said after the meeting at Brussels they had no plans to act immediately on that.

In Moscow, the Russian government announced it would send advanced anti-aircraft missiles to its long-time ally in Damascus, a move likely to discourage any attack by Western powers, as happened in Libya.

The presence of such missiles would make the task of disarming Syrian air warnings and air defences substantially more difficult, were that option to be considered.

Russia has been insisting at all times on continuing to press for negotiations to end the conflict, at which the incumbent Assad government would have a main role.

Moves for talks, to take place in June, strongly backed by the United States, have faltered, with a postponement now considered likely, until August.   

Over two years the insurrection in Syria has developed into an intensely violent civil war, with hundreds of thousands of casualties and millions of the country’s inhabitants fleeing to refugee camps in neighbouring countries.

Reference

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