We'll stop anyone giving Syria weapons: William Hague

The halting of a Russian ship believed to be carrying helicopters and missiles to Syria should act as a warning to others looking to supply arms to the Assad regime, the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, warned on Tuesday.

The MV Alaed was about 50 miles off the north coast of Scotland when it was forced to change course and head for home after the ship's insurers withdrew cover for its Russian owners, at the behest of the Government.

Security officials told Standard Club that providing insurance to the shipment was likely to breach European Union sanctions against the Syrian regime.

The Foreign Secretary reiterated the point to MPs yesterday. "I am pleased that the ship that was reported to be carrying arms to Syria has now turned back apparently towards Russia," he said.

"We have in place a European Union arms embargo on Syria. We discourage anyone else from supplying arms to Syria. We have had discussions with Russia about that specifically."

The National Maritime Information Centre, which is tracking the vessel's movements, reported that the ship had avoided British and EU territorial waters. Last night it said the ship, owned by Femco, a Russian cargo line, appeared to be heading north east and was showing its next port of call as Murmansk.

Russia is President Bashar al-Assad's last remaining international ally, and Western governments are seeking to increase the pressure on Moscow over its military support for Syria.

Western officials have claimed that the ship was carrying military cargo including Mi25 helicopter gunships, known as flying tanks.

Security sources said there could be no legitimate reason for Syria to seek the helicopters. The model is "a truly diabolical device, a fiendish contraption whose only purpose is killing," said one source.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also disclosed that Hague had told his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, that Moscow must stop giving Syria military supplies.

"We are working closely with international partners to ensure that we are doing all we can to stop the Syrian regime's ability to slaughter civilians being reinforced through assistance from other countries," a spokesman said.

Last night the United Nations Security Council convened to decide the future of the UN's ill-fated observer mission to Syria. Lt-Gen Robert Mood, the chief monitor, briefed council members in private days after he was forced to suspend all patrols by his 300-strong team in response to worsening violence.

The observer mission set up by Kofi Annan is due to end on July 20, but Mark Lyall Grant, Britain's ambassador to the UN, indicated that the monitors could be withdrawn even sooner. "I think there will be a lot of member states of the council, including us, who will be questioning now what the future is for the mission and, therefore, by extension, the Annan plan, in light of these recent developments on the ground," he said.

Critics of the mission have long predicted that it would not work, claiming that it has done little other than to provide  Assad diplomatic cover to crush the uprising. More than 3,300 people are estimated to have been killed since the observers arrived in mid-April.

Yesterday regime forces once again shelled opposition strongholds in the city of Homs, the most fiercely contested battlefield of the 15-month uprising. More than 1,000 families are believed to be trapped in the city's Sunni districts. The regime claimed it had tried to coordinate an evacuation with the UN, but had been prevented from doing so by the rebels.