France will discuss supplying arms to Syrian opposition forces with its European partners in the coming weeks now that an opposition coalition has been established, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Thursday.
France is wary of militarizing the 20-month-old conflict, but is also wary of leaving areas under opposition control unprotected against bomb attacks, Fabius told RTL radio.
"At the moment there is an embargo on arms, so no weapons are being delivered from Europe. The question will undoubtedly be raised for defensive arms but it's something we can only do in coordination with the rest of Europe," Fabius said.
He said Paris was talking to Moscow and United Nations special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi over a solution, as it waited for the Syrian coalition to form a provisional government in the weeks ahead that could open the door to supplying arms.
"We want to avoid going towards militarisation. On the other hand we must prevent liberated zones from being destroyed. We must find a fair balance," Fabius said.
Paris on Tuesday became the first European capital to recognize the coalition as sole representative of the Syrian people and said it would look at arming rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad's forces once a provisional government is formed.
France has thus far ruled out sending weapons, concerned they could get into the hands of radical Islamists, but the coalition is urging European states to allow it access to arms.
President Francois Hollande will meet the Syrian Coalition's leaders in Paris on Saturday, Fabius said, including chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib and George Sabra, the new leader of the Syrian National Council.
This as British Prime
Minister David Cameron met with some of his ministers to discuss the situation
in Syria, mainly the possibility of providing weapons to opposition fighters,
according to BBC.
Meanwhile, Moscow announced that providing military assistance
to the Syrian opposition would be a “blatant violation” of international law.
For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Thursday to recognise a fledgling Syrian opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
"Turkey ... once again reiterates its recognition of the Syrian National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people and calls upon all our brothers in the OIC to do so," Davutoglu told an OIC ministerial meeting in Djibouti, according to the text of his speech.
On the field:
Syrian regime forces pursued on Thursday military operations in the Reef Damascus region. This as local Coordination Committees said that the Free Syrian Army shot down a regime warplane near al-Bukamal in Deir al-Zour.
Meanwhile activists and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported “extreme” humanitarian cases and announced that more 39,000 people fell dead since the onset of the 20-month Syrian conflict.
The observatory issued a statement stating that the towns of Daraya and Moamaida in Reef Damascus were violently shelled by regime forces, leaving several wounded.
Meanwhile, clashes erupted between Syrian rebels and the Syrian Army near Mangh Military Airport in Reef Aleppo.
Regime forces also continued shelling the town of Aazaz controlled by the Syrian rebels in Aleppo.
In Deir El-Zour, clashes broke out between regime forces and militants belonging to several battalions.
LBCI/REUTERS