Syria conflict: EU considers amending arms embargo

27 May 2013 Last updated at 15:35 GMT EU foreign ministers are discussing UK and French calls to ease sanctions so Syria rebels can be supplied with arms. France and the UK argue that the move would push Damascus towards a political solution. However, several EU states are totally opposed to ending the arms embargo, which expires on 31 May. Meanwhile French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said there were "growing suspicions" of "localised" chemical weapons use in Syria. Mr Fabius said the evidence needed "very detailed verification". "We are consulting with our partners to examine what specific consequences to draw," he added. He was speaking after the French newspaper Le Monde on Monday reported that rebel forces in the Damascus suburb of Jobar had been targeted by canisters of toxic gas since last month. Continue reading the main story Analysis Lyse Doucet Chief international correspondent In a conflict which worsens by the week, this is a week when critical decisions on the next steps in Syria must be made. The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, has added his voice to those urging Europe to ease restrictions on military support for the opposition. "Fine for him to say, but what is Washington willing to do?" one European foreign minister opposed to lifting the ban told me. On Monday, Mr Kerry meets his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Paris. Their talks are expected to focus on plans for the first conference to bring together representatives of the Syrian government and opposition. The meetings in Brussels and Paris are linked. One of the main concerns in many European capitals is the impact any lifting or easing of the EU arms embargo might have on the fragile effort to fashion a political transition. Read more from Lyse A photographer working for the paper "suffered blurred vision and respiratory difficulties for four days", it said. 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. The meeting in Brussels comes as the US, France and Russia push for Syria's opposition to join President Bashar al-Assad's government at an international peace conference in Geneva next month. Syria's foreign minister confirmed on Sunday that the government would "in principle" attend the summit. Members of the main opposition coalition are currently meeting in the Turkish city of Istanbul to decide whether to attend the conference. They have been given an unofficial deadline of this evening, the BBC's Jim Muir reports, before US Secretary of State John Kerry is due to have talks in Paris with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. 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". 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. 'Peace community' Hours into the EU meeting, foreign ministers were still locked in discussions on the arms embargo, says the BBC's Matthew Price in Brussels. A source told the BBC that a majority of countries preferred not to change the embargo, and the ministers were seeking a compromise. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague explained the government's position One option could involve allowing some military equipment to be sent to Syria, with strict conditions attached, our correspondent adds. There are fears 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. But last week Mr Hague told British MPs that weapons would be supplied only "under carefully controlled circumstances" and with clear commitments from the opposition. 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 Source: EU - April 2013 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, "which the Union accepts as legitimate representatives of the Syrian people". If 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. Syrian state TV said Yara Abbas was killed while covering clashes in Qusair 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, said in a statement on Thursday. Fighting in Syria continued on Monday around the strategic town of Qusair, a few miles from the Lebanese border. A prominent Syrian female TV journalist, Yara Abbas, was killed just outside the town, pro-government Ikhbariya TV said, in clashes that have threatened to spill over into Lebanon. Dozens of militants from the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah movement have been killed in Qusair in the past week. The latest violence has prompted UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay to issue a dire warning. "A humanitarian, political and social catastrophe is already upon us and what awaits us is truly a nightmare," she told the start of a session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.