SYRIA - British 'Non-Lethal' Aid to Rebels?

"Britain considering 'non-lethal' help for Syria rebels" from AFP, The Telegraph 3/8/2012

Britain has not ruled out providing more 'non-lethal' help to Syria's rebels, according to William Hague, the foreign secretary, after America said it was considering supplying radio equipment.

Mr Hague told MPs at the Foreign Affairs committee that Britain would "continue to offer help to peaceful Syrian opposition groups – practical assistance."

"I also don't rule out giving more non-lethal help, but we haven't countenanced doing that beyond groups that are, so far, located outside Syria and are trying to pursue a peaceful, democratic transition," he added.

Mr Hague said there would be "logistical difficulties" in providing such help to groups inside Syria and admitted there were fears that equipment could end up in the hands of al-Qaeda militants.

"We always consult closely with the United States," Mr Hague said, adding that Britain had provided non-lethal help to Libyan opposition groups before the toppling of Moamer Gaddafi's regime.

Leon Panetta, the US defense secretary, had on Wednesday said the United States was looking at providing non-lethal aid such as radio equipment to help opposition forces in their fight against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Asked at the Senate Armed Services Committee if the US was ready to deliver communications equipment to Syrian rebels, Panetta said: "I'd prefer to discuss that in a closed session but I can tell you that we're considering an array of non-lethal assistance."

Mr Hague said a violent overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime would have "unknowable consequences" for the region and that a peaceful political transition was the most desirable outcome.

He added that Britain, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, was continuing to negotiate with Russia and China on how to bring an end to the bloodshed in Syria.

But he warned that Russia and China, which have twice vetoed UN resolutions on Syria, are "paying a diplomatic price for the position they have taken".

"They should be concerned about their ultimate national interests in Syria," said Hague, arguing that if the Assad regime falls "then it is actually in the national interests of Russia and China to support a political transition."

The Syrian army meanwhile sent more troops to the northwest province of Idlib. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the troop build-up appeared to indicate a major military operation was imminent given reports in the official press of "armed terrorist groups" in the region.

The group added that six people, including a chili, were killed across the country on Thursday.