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Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

European Union To Debate Lifting Arms Embargo On Syria

Nicholas Slayton |
November 16, 2012 | 4:24 p.m. PST

Executive Producer

(Dawn Megli / Neon Tommy)
(Dawn Megli / Neon Tommy)

European nations are debating whether or not to overturn the current arms embargo against Syria, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

Hague's announcement comes as Syria's opposition holds talks in London. It is meeting with European, Middle Eastern and American diplomats to discuss raising funds and gaining foreign support.

The European Union's current embargo, imposed last spring, prohibits sending arms to any party inside Syria. Foreign ministers from EU states will meet on Monday to discuss lifting the embargo, and how to police who gets arms if it is lifted. The government of Bashar al-Assad has been supplied by both Russia and Iran.

Syria's opposition groups recently reorganized into the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces following increased division as the 20-month-long civil war presses on.

The fighting in Syria remains intense, with Assad's armies shelling and launching airstrikes on civilian centers and rebel encampments. According to Syrian human rights monitors, at least 90 people, including 46 civilians, were killed in fight today around the country. They say that at least 660 people died in the month of November so far.

Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage of Syria here.
Reach Executive Producer Nicholas Slayton here. Follow him here.



 

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