Report: Syrian coalition praises Paris and London on intention of arming Syrian opposition

         
France and Britain will call for a European Union meeting, possibly before the end of March, to discuss lifting the embargo on supplying arms to the Syrian opposition, France's foreign minister said on Thursday.      

Speaking on France Info radio, Laurent Fabius said: "We have to go very fast. The Europeans are supposed to look at this question in several weeks, but we will ask with the British to bring forward that meeting."         

When asked if France would arm the opposition if there was no international agreement, Fabius said: "To lift the embargo, yes exactly."      

France is a "sovereign state" and ready to act in coordination with Britain, which holds an identical position, he said.     

On another note, the Syrian national coalition praised the stances of Paris and London that aim at arming the Syrian opposition even without the consent of the EU, noting that “it is a step in the right direction”, the coalition spokesman Walid al-Bunni told AFP.        

“The Syrian President Bachar Assad will not accept a political settlement, unless he realizes that a certain force will topple him,” he added.        

In addition, the Philippines voiced commitment to the UN monitoring force in an attempt to smooth things over at the Golan heights, despite the fact that 21 Filipino soldiers were kidnapped and released later on by gunmen associated with the Syrian opposition.            

UN Reports rise in refugee numbers          

The number of registered Syrian refugees jumped 10 percent in just one week to more than 1.1 million, a U.N. aid official said Thursday as France pushed for an urgent lifting of a European Union ban on arming opposition fighters.         

Fighting in Syria has escalated in recent months, with the regime stepping up attacks on rebel strongholds. The U.N. refugee agency said the number of Syrians fleeing to neighboring countries has risen to 8,000 a day from 3,000 in December.         


REUTERS/AP/LBCI


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