Dutch FM concerned about weapon delivery to Syria

Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Frans Timmermans on Monday expressed concern about the continuing weapons delivery to the Assad-regime in Syria. "The support of Iran and the arise of Islamic militant group Hezbollah seems to destabilize the military balance in the advantage of Bashar al-Assad," Timmermans said during a meeting with foreign reporters. Under intense pressure from Britain and France, the European Union's arms embargo against the Syrian rebels was lifted on June 1. But Frans Timmermans has always opposed opening the way for weapons to be sent, saying it would only worsen the violence that has already cost at least 80,000 lives according to some estimates. The Netherlands was skeptical, especially of the assurances given by the British and French that weaponry could be directed to moderate rebel groupings and kept out of the hands of more radical Islamist elements. "I think it is going to be extremely difficult for the countries willing to deliver weaponry to ensure the weapons will not end up in the hands of organizations like Al-Qaida outside the region," Timmermans said. So far there is no immediate prospect of European weaponry heading for Syria, he added. "Britain and France see the lifting of the arms embargo as a political instrument to force all parties around the table for the Geneva peace conference," Timmermans said. Russia said the EU's failure to extend the arms embargo would "directly harm" the prospects of an international peace conference on Syria. "If Russia would stop the delivery of weapons to Assad and if Russia would stop blocking a total arms embargo, the chances for peace would increase," Timmermans wrote on his Facebook page recently.