European Liberals call for lifting of arms embargo on Syria

The leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, has welcomed comments made by French and UK leaders to lift the EU arms embargo on Syria in order to help the conflict to a swift end. "The Syrian opposition needs weapons to stop Assad's jets and rockets from wreaking death and destruction on innocent civilians. The Free Syrian Army has made a case for having the means to protect ordinary citizens and defend themselves against the more sophisticated and deadly weapons available to the regime forces," said Verhfstadt, a former Belgian Prime Minister, in a statement. He said that "EU foreign ministers should reconvene as soon as possible to reconsider their position in light of the deteriorating situation and continued loss of life, instead of waiting for the next round of debate on the arms embargo in May, by which time many more lives will have been lost." "I hope the other EU Member States will follow the United Kingdom and France so that we have EU unity on this issue," he added. Leaders of the 27-member EU are expected to discuss the Syrian crisis during their meeting in Brussels Friday.