Hollande: No Arms for Syria Rebels Now

Local Editor

French President Francois Hollande said warned that the situation in Syria was still too unsure to start supplying weapons to opposition rebels, an idea France backs in the longer term.

France and Britain, earlier, pressed for the relaxation of an arms embargo on Syria so that arms can flow to outgunned rebels.

The embargo expires on June 1 and both countries say it should be allowed to lapse. But Hollande said that before arms were delivered to Syria, guarantees were needed they would not fall into the hands of terrorists.

"We will not do it as long as we cannot be certain that there is complete control of the situation by the opposition," Hollande said during an interview on France 2 television.
In parallel, he mentioned that the country won't deliver weapons until there is "certainty that these arms will be used by legitimate opposition members, and cut off from all terrorist influence."

He continued, "For now, we don't have that."

Hollande urged the Syrian opposition to overcome its divisions. Both France and Britain tried in vain to convince other EU leaders to relax the embargo at a European Council meeting last week, and EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss the issue further this weekend.

Source: News agencies, Edited by moqawama.org