Merkel warns against arming Syria militants

Merkel warns against arming Syria militants
Thu Jun 27, 2013 16:30:37

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned against supplying arms to the foreign-backed militants in Syria, saying the risks of the move are too high.

Addressing a parliament session on Thursday, she said, “the risks [of arming the militants in Syria] would be incalculable.”

Earlier in May, Merkel had noted that Berlin would never send arms to the militants in Syria, saying, “Germany will under no circumstances send weapons to Syria - a country in civil war - no matter how other countries deal with the arms embargo.”

Those comments were made after the European Union, pushed by Britain and France, decided to lift the Union’s arms embargo on the militants in Syria in order to facilitate the dispatch of weapons to the armed groups in the Arab country.

Meanwhile, a June 26 report by the Wall Street Journal said the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has begun transferring weapons to Jordan in order to arm groups of foreign-backed militants fighting against the Syrian government.

The unrest in Syria erupted over two years ago and many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants fighting in Syria are foreign nationals.

In an interview broadcast on Turkish television in April, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that if the militants take power in Syria, they could destabilize the entire Middle East region for decades.

string(846) "[{"id":"1488245","sort":"3042119","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2013/06/26/alalam_635078772656112870_25f_4x3.mp4","title":"Rebels brutally behead two Christians in Syria"} ,{"id":"1488274","sort":"3042120","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2013/06/26/alalam_635078759351502870_25f_4x3.mp4","title":"Several foreign militants killed in Syria's Barzeh"} ,{"id":"1488370","sort":"3042117","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2013/06/27/alalam_635079195547819853_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"CIA starts arming militants in Syria"} ,{"id":"1488371","sort":"3042118","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2013/06/27/alalam_635079208868873540_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Russia tells US to clarify its Syria policy"} ,{"id":"1488432","sort":"3042116","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2013/06/27/alalam_635079326884208836_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"'Al-Nusra leader in Syria is a CIA operative'"} ]"