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Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Malcolm Rifkind (Conservative). It was answered on Tuesday, 4 December 2012 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Middle East

Question

Does the Foreign Secretary agree that one urgent priority must be for his Department to do whatever it can to help to

end the indiscriminate carnage of tens of thousands of Syrian civilians by their own regime? May I commend him for persuading his European colleagues that reviews of the current arms embargo must be held every three months and not every year, and will he give urgent consideration to persuading his European colleagues—and, indeed, the Government—at least to allow air defence equipment to be made available to those trying to protect civilian communities throughout Syria?

Answer

I am grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend. He is right: last week the Government persuaded colleagues in the European Union that rather than roll over all sanctions on Syria for 12 months, including the arms embargo, we should do so for three months to allow ourselves flexibility to respond to a changing situation. As he knows, I do not follow him all the way in saying that we should supply air defence equipment, although opposition groups in Syria are clearly acquiring a variety of anti-aircraft weapons. The Government will be intensifying further not only our humanitarian assistance but our diplomatic efforts—including with Russia—to try to find a way forward on Syria.

Secondary information

Type
Oral question
Reference
554 c708 
Session
2012-13
Oral question type
Supplementary
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Politics and government Middle East
Link
View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk