UK is not ruling out arming Syrian rebels

The British government has not ruled out arming the Syrian rebels if conditions are met, said British Secretary of State for Defense Philip Hammond on Friday. Hammond in remarks to BCC said, "the UK had so far been unable to provide weapons because of an EU ban on arming the rebels." But "we will look at the situation when that ban expires in a few weeks' time," he added. US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said yesterday his government is no longer ruling out arming Syrian rebels and US was now looking at "all options to find the best way to move a political transition". However, Hammond added that "existing evidence of alleged chemical weapons was not sufficient to trigger an international response". "There is a very strong view that we have to have very clear, very high-quality evidence before we make plans and act on that evidence," he noted.