Syria accuses Jordan of opening borders for jihadists and weapons -...

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A Syrian security source told AFP on Friday that Syrian authorities accused Jordan of opening its borders and permitting the smuggling of weapons and the infiltration of insurgents to South Syria.

The source noted that the Syrian authorities condemned what it called the change of "attitude" on the part of Jordan, which in the past 10 days has opened its borders allowing jihadists and Croatian weapons bought by Saudi Arabia into Syria.

Earlier, French President Francois Hollande said on Friday he had received guarantees from the Syrian opposition that any future arms delivered to them in their fight against President Bashar al-Assad would end up in the right hands.

"In terms of delivering weapons ... to have the best answer the opposition must give all necessary guarantees," Hollande said at the end of a European Union leaders' summit.
"It's because we have been given those that we can envisage the lifting of the embargo. We have the certainty on the use of these weapons," he said.

He added that the opposition would be also given technical assistance if arms were to be delivered.

Meanwhile, the European Union leaders have asked the bloc's foreign ministers to assess an arms embargo on Syria during a meeting on March 22-23, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said after a two-day summit in Brussels.

"We agreed to task our foreign ministers to assess the situation as a matter of priority, already at their informal meeting next week in Dublin, and to develop common positions," Van Rompuy told a news briefing on Friday.

France and Britain have urged their EU peers to lift an embargo on supplying weapons to the Syrian opposition, fighting a two-year uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

They have yet to secure sufficient support, with Germany against such a move.

On another note, activists say Syria's regime is beefing up security measures in Damascus on the second anniversary of the country's uprising.

Some rebels have called for stepped-up attacks to mark the anniversary. The banned Islamist Muslim Brotherhood group has called for a "week of action" on the occasion but didn't specify what it would do.

Syria's uprising began in mid-March 2011 with protests in the southern city of Daraa after troops arrested teenagers who scrawled anti-regime graffiti on a wall.

It has since morphed into a civil war with an estimated 70,000 people killed, according to the United Nations.

A Damascus-based activist who identified himself as Abu Qais said troops increased patrols and security searches in the country's capital. He spoke on condition his real name not be used for security concerns.

REUTERS/AP

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