Syria conflict: EU to discuss amending arms embargo

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European Union foreign ministers are discussing British and French calls for an easing of sanctions against Syria so weapons can be supplied to the rebels.

France and the UK are expected to argue that the move would increase pressure on Damascus for a political solution.

However, several EU states are totally opposed to ending the arms embargo, which expires on 31 May.

EU officials have warned against jeopardising a current initiative to hold an international peace conference.

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If there is no consensus on amending or extending the arms embargo, a package of other sanctions putting pressure on President Assad and his supporters would also disappear. That is an outcome EU member states want to avoid”

Chief international correspondent

Syria's foreign minister confirmed on Sunday that the government would "in principle" attend the conference which the US and Russia hope will take place in Geneva next month.

Walid Muallem said it would be "a good opportunity for a political solution" to the conflict, which the UN says has left more than 80,000 people dead.

Members of the main opposition coalition are currently discussing whether to attend the conference, but spokesmen have said they would if President Bashar al-Assad agreed to step down.

'Devastating consequences'

Arriving for the talks in Brussels on Monday, several foreign ministers and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said it was vital to give the planned Geneva talks a chance.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague explained the government's position

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said first and foremost the EU had to "do everything to support as Europeans the American and Russian initiative".

Austria, in common with the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden. opposes arming the rebels. Its Foreign Minister, Michael Spindelegger, said the EU should remain as "a peace community by not being involved in such a conflict".

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said that Britain fully backed the Geneva conference as "in the end there is only a political and diplomatically supported solution".

EU arms embargo on Syria

• Ban on export/import of arms and equipment for internal repression since May 2011
• Non-lethal military equipment and technical assistance allowed under certain conditions since Feb 2013
• All Syrian cargo planes banned from EU airports
• EU states obliged to inspect Syria-bound ships or planes suspected of carrying arms
• Assets freeze on 54 groups and 179 people responsible for or involved in repression
• Export ban on technical monitoring equipment

But he said amending the EU arms embargo was "part of supporting the diplomatic work". President Assad's government needed "a clear signal that it has to negotiate seriously", he said.

Last week, Mr Hague told British MPs that weapons would be supplied only "under carefully controlled circumstances" and with clear commitments from the opposition.

French President Francois Hollande said last week that the existing weapons "imbalance" favoured the government in some areas of Syria. and "military pressure" on Damascus would make a political solution more likely. 

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said there was a "strong spirit" for a European solution

The EU embargo, first imposed in May 2011, applies to the rebels as much as the Syrian government.

But in February this year foreign ministers agreed to enable any EU member state to provide non-lethal military equipment "for the protection of civilians" or for the opposition forces, "

Mr Hague and the French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, want EU governments to amend the embargo text to allow weapons to be supplied to the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, or allow more assistance to be sent.

'Toxic gas'

There has been increasing pressure on the international community to act since allegations emerged of chemical weapons being used in the conflict.

Syria has denied using chemical weapons, but that rebel forces in the Damascus suburb of Jobar had been targeted by canisters of toxic gas since last month.

A photographer working for the paper "suffered blurred vision and respiratory difficulties for four days", it said.

Earlier this month BBC News obtained unverified footage of civilians hit by an apparent chemical attack in the northern town of Saraqeb.

US President Barack Obama has warned that use of chemical weapons by Syria would be a "red line" for possible intervention. However a UN commission of inquiry member, Carla Del Ponte, said this month that witnesses had also spoken of rebel use of the nerve agent, sarin.

If EU foreign ministers fail to agree to an easing of the arms embargo, which expires at midnight on 31 May, a more likely deal would involve extending it without amendment for a short period to see if the Geneva conference is successful.

Unanimity is needed, and Mr Hague warned that if a deal could not be agreed, each member state would have to ensure it had its own sanctions.

The BBC's Ian Pannell report on chemical weapons claims. Guidance: This video contains disturbing images

Many EU countries fear that anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons given to rebel fighters considered "moderate" might end up in the hands of jihadist militants, including those from the al-Nusra Front, which has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda.

The lack of a centralised command structure and allegations of human rights abuses by rebel fighters are also sources of concern.

The European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU's diplomatic service, has cautioned against "any counterproductive move" that could harm the prospects of the Geneva conference. It suggests extending the embargo to allow "more time for reflection".

Oxfam has warned of "devastating consequences" if the embargo ends.

"There are no easy answers when trying to stop the bloodshed in Syria, but sending more arms and ammunition clearly isn't one of them," the aid agency's head of arms control, Anna Macdonald, "International efforts should be focused on halting arms transfers to all sides and finding a political solution to the crisis."

US Secretary of State John Kerry has been lobbying EU member states hesitant about lifting the embargo, which our correspondent says has forced the debate in Brussels and added weight to the British and French position. Still, a compromise may be impossible, he adds.