Britain ready to defy Syria arms embargo

Britain and France are prepared to arm Syrian rebels unless the European Union lifts a blanket arms embargo on the country, David Cameron will tell a Brussels summit today (Friday).

The Prime Minister will tell other EU leaders that he and Francois Hollande, the French president, can no longer stand by as the Syrian regime, armed by Russia and Iran, kills civilians and seeks to crush rebels.

"There is a perversity about an arms embargo. It doesn't stop those aiding Assad," a Number 10 source said. "It does stop EU countries and others helping those against whom Assad is waging a brutal and terrorising war."

The Prime Minister and Hollande will interrupt the scheduled agenda at the European Council summit in Brussels to demand EU-wide action within weeks.

Cameron will clash with Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, who fears that arming Syrian rebels will cause the conflict to spill over into the wider region and that weapons could end up in the hands of extremist Islamist groups.

Britain is frustrated that, under the EU sanctions regime, the embargo on arming Syria's opposition cannot be reviewed until the end of May despite the fact that more than 70,000 Syrians have died in the fighting.

It is understood that the British and French would be prepared to act together if no EU-wide deal can be reached.

"We want to change the arms embargo so we can arm the opposition. That is want we want to do," said a British source.

The Government is not currently considering breaking the EU arms embargo to provide "lethal assistance" to moderate groups fighting the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.

However, a case could be made under international law for such action on "humanitarian grounds".

More than 1.1 million refugees have fled Syria since the conflict began, with the United Nations saying that the number had risen by 10% in the past week alone.

Arriving at the summit, Hollande joined Mr Cameron in calling on the EU to lift blanket sanctions that prevented the arming of the Syrian opposition.

"We hope that the Europeans will lift the embargo," he said. "We consider today a nation is in danger. With more than 100,000 deaths since the beginning of the uprising, now we finally need to give the Syrian opposition the means to win their cause, the departure of Bashar al-Assad."

Speaking on Tuesday, Cameron said that unless EU sanctions were eased "then it's not out of the question we might have to do things in our own way".

Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, followed Cameron to declare that France was also ready to break EU ranks unilaterally to arm Syria's opposition unless sanctions were lifted "now".

Baronness Ashton, the EU foreign minister, has sided with Germany, Sweden and more than 20 other European countries opposed to arming the Syrian opposition because of fears it would destabilise the whole region.

"We believe a political solution is the only way out of this crisis," said Lady Ashton's spokesman.

A secret paper drafted by Lady Ashton's EU diplomatic service, and seen by The Daily Telegraph, argued that lifting the embargo could "fuel further militarisation of the conflict, increase risks of dissemination among extremist groups and of arms proliferation in a post-Assad Syria".

In an attempt to avert a major political crisis, Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, said Germany was ready to hold urgent talks on the Syria sanctions after the embargo was relaxed on March 1 in order allow non-lethal aid and training to be provided to rebels.

Rumours swept Damascus that the Assad regime was conscripting males aged 18-42 to make up for military losses. Syrian exiles abroad reported relatives as saying the streets were deserted. "They are afraid. If they go out they will be called up," said one.