REPORT: Parliament queries British arms exports to Syria, Iran and others

A car bomb killed several civilians, including women and children, in a town in Damascus province on Wednesday, Syrian state television said.     

The car was parked near the Amari Mosque in Kanaker, a town south of the capital, the channel reported. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, quoted activists as saying seven people had died.                      

On another note, Turkish troops returned fire into Syria after stray bullets from Syria struck the police headquarters and several homes in the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar.                

Earlier, Turkish security sources and health officials said that one man and a 15-year-old boy were killed when they were hit by stray bullets from Syria in the Turkish border town.                     

The incident, which happened on Tuesday, was the most serious spillover of violence into Turkey in weeks and highlights the growing concern that Syria's civil war is dragging in neighboring states.                  

The bullets came from the adjacent Syrian town of Ras-al Ain, where Kurdish fighters have been battling Islamist anti-government rebels since Tuesday. Ceylanpinar, in southeastern Sanliurfa province, sits just across the border from Ras al-Ain.         

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said Kurdish armed men had taken control of most of Ras al-Ain from Islamist rebel fighters from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.   

Clashes between Kurds affiliated with the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a Syrian Kurdish party with links to Kurdish militants in Turkey, and anti-Assad Syrian and foreign fighters have erupted since Kurds began asserting control over parts of the northeast from late last year.        

Ras al-Ain, also known by its Kurdish name Serekani, and Ceylanpinar were once a single town under the Ottoman Empire before they were split after World War One, and both have Arab and Kurdish communities. 

In the worst example of the spillover of violence into Turkey, 52 people were killed when twin car bombs ripped through Reyhanli, another border town, on May 11. Turkey accused Syria of involvement in the attacks but Damascus has denied any role.               

Turkey, which is sheltering around 500,000 Syrian refugees, has become one of Assad's most vocal critics and has scrambled war planes along the border as stray gunfire and shelling hit its soil. The civil war began with anti-government protests in March 2011.                  

British arms exports to Syria:                

Britain has granted billions of pounds worth of military export licenses for countries such as Syria, Iran and Libya despite proclaiming deep concerns about their human rights records, the British parliament said on Wednesday.                    

In a critical report, parliament's Committees on Arms Export Controls said Britain had approved licenses for weapons exports to 27 countries worth 12.3 billion pounds ($18.6 billion) highlighting the "inherent conflict" between its arms exports policy and its human rights policy.      

It was not clear whether goods had actually been shipped to the countries for which arms export licenses had been given.             

Parts for bullet-proof vehicles and underwater listening devices were approved for export to Syria while Iran licenses covered civil aircraft and a range of military electronic equipment including 80 million pounds' worth of encryption devices and software.                 

Britain has long been at odds with Iran over its disputed nuclear program, and with Syria, where it supports opposition groups seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad.            

UN-Humanitarian aid:

The UN's top humanitarian official said Wednesday that nearly $13 billion in humanitarian aid will be needed this year a third of it just for Syria to help 73 million people suffering around the world.         

But that's just an estimate, midway through 2013, of what will be needed in what is turning out to be an "unprecedented" challenge, said Valerie Amos, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief.


REUTERS/AP

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