dinsdag 28 mei 2013

Russia to ship missiles to Syria after EU ends arms embargo on rebels

by Ed Morrissey

Escalations continued on all sides in Syria’s civil war except, curiously, among the Syrians. The EU decided not to renew the embargo on arms sales to Syrian rebels, which prompted the Russians to pledge delivery of anti-aircraft missiles, which prompted Israel to implicitly warn that they would make great targets for their air force. In the middle of all this, John McCain got a photo op with a Syrian opposition that’s being dominated by radical Islamist militias, including an al-Qaeda affiliate that forms the core of their military operations.

In other words, it’s a mess, but let’s start with the embargo’s end, announced last night:

The European Union plans to end its embargo on arming the Syrian opposition, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Monday.
The Associated Press reports: “Hague insisted that Britain had ‘no immediate plans to send arms to Syria. It gives us flexibility to respond in the future if the situation continues to deteriorate.’ ”
The EU will continue its sanctions against Bashar Assad’s government, which had been set to expire on June 1, Hague said.
Russia answered almost immediately, explaining that they want to keep “hotheads” from interfering in the Syrian civil war:

Read more at: HotAir