LONDON // Britain and France yesterday failed to persuade European Union governments to lift an arms embargo that is preventing a supply of weapons to Syria's rebels.
The deadlock came as protests were held across the country to mark the second anniversary of the Syrian uprising and amid concerns that rebels are struggling to make a breakthrough against a Syrian army supplied by Russia and Iran.
European governments want to support rebels against Syrian President Bashar Al Assad but fear a flow of arms could worsen the bloodshed in a conflict that has already claimed 70,000 lives. Many expressed fears at an EU summit in Brussels yesterday that allowing arms to flow to the opposition could lead to weapons falling into the wrong hands - especially Islamist militants who have become an increasingly powerful force.
EU foreign ministers will now assess the EU arms embargo next week when they meet in Dublin.
French President Francois Hollande, backed by British Prime Minister David Cameron, pressed for the embargo to be lifted, saying Europe could not allow the Syrian people to be massacred.
The coalition "needs to have the means to defend the areas that have been liberated. What he is doing is committing a crime against his own people," Mr Hollande said, referring to Mr Al Assad. "It has been two years of a terrible situation and the number of victims is rising daily."
Mr Cameron said the embargo favoured Mr Al Assad's regime and rejected the argument that weapons could fall into "the wrong hands".
By stepping up their support for the opposition, Britain, along with the US and France and their Gulf allies would be in a better position to "shape the opposition, and to make sure that it is those parts of the opposition that support a democratic and pluralistic Syria … getting our help and getting our assistance", Mr Cameron said.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar are widely believed to be providing weapons to the rebels.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a leading opponent of lifting the arms embargo, said there was a danger that Mr Al Assad's allies Russia and Iran could step up arms supplies to his government if the EU lifted its restrictions. Just because Britain and France now wanted to drop the ban, that does not mean 25 other states must follow, she said in Brussels. "That will not be the case." "Others have, with, in my view, very good reasons ... pointed to the fact that Iran and also Russia are only waiting for a signal to export arms [and] that one must also be aware of the fragile situation in Lebanon and what that means for the arming of Hizbollah," she said.
Syria's "intolerable violence" has risen to "point number 1" on the foreign ministers' agenda, Herman Van Rompuy, the European Council president, said yesterday.
Mr Van Rompuy stressed the EU was keen to "develop common positions" rather than see some countries go it alone, as both Britain and France had suggested in recent days.
France and Britain also argue that the threat of supplying weapons to Syria's rebels might add extra pressure on Mr Al Assad to step down from power and make way for a transitional government that would oversee elections, the political solution western powers are pushing for.
Two weeks ago, Britain and the US announced they were stepping up aid to the Syrian opposition to include non-lethal military aid direct to members of the Free Syrian Army, the loose alliance of armed groups battling the Syrian army.
So far, western powers have stopped short of supplying weapons largely out of fear that they will fall into the hands of groups that will eventually use them against western interests in the region. One of the groups fighting the Syrian military, Jabhat Al Nusra, is considered a terrorist group by the US.
The fractious Syrian opposition has also not helped its cause by failing to convince that political leaders outside the country are in control of armed rebels inside Syria.
Britain and France was at forefront of the military intervention on behalf of Libyan rebels that eventually ended with the overthrow and killing of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
Demonstrators took to the streets in towns and cities across the country yesterday, including Damascus, Aleppo and Deraa in the south. "Long Live Syria! Down with Bashar Al Assad!" chanted demonstrators in the village of Harra in Deraa, the cradle of the revolt, activists said.
At least 82 people were killed yesterday, 40 of them civilians, according to a preliminary toll released by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syria's air force bombed rebel bastions near Damascus, as clashes raged in flashpoints across the country, the UK-based organisation said. Regime forces also resumed an assault on parts of third city Homs, pounding the Old City and Khaldiyeh rebel enclaves in the city centre and the Baba Amr district in the south-west. okarmi@thenational.ae
With additional reporting by Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 6 (McTominay 2', 3'; Fernandes 20', 70' pen; Lindelof 37'; James 65')
Leeds United 2 (Cooper 41'; Dallas 73')
Man of the match: Scott McTominay (Manchester United)
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The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 540hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 2,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Kerb weight: 1580kg
Price: From Dh750k
On sale: via special order
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
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Saturday's results
Brighton 1-1 Leicester City
Everton 1-0 Cardiff City
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace
Watford 0-3 Liverpool
West Ham United 0-4 Manchester City
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
MO
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
