UN says US move to give arms to Syrian rebels will do nothing to end conflict

ABC News

JUNE 15, 2013

United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon says the United States’ decision to provide arms to rebel fighters in Syria would not be helpful.

The Obama administration said yesterday it had reviewed intelligence reports and concluded that forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad had used banned weapons, including sarin, in attacks that killed up to 150 people.

Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes announced Mr Obama’s decision “about providing more support to the opposition”.

“That will involve providing direct support to the SMC. That includes military support,” he said, declining to elaborate.

The bolstered “military support” is understood to include some lethal materials that Washington has previously declined to throw into the conflict.

Whether heavy weapons or just small arms will be involved is unclear.

But Mr Ban says arming either side in the 27-month war, which has cost tens of thousands of lives, “would not be helpful”.

He says he has been “consistently clear that providing arms to either side would not address this current situation. There is no such military solution”.

“Only political solutions can address this situation sustainably.”In the latest fighting, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported, fierce battles swept the northern city of Aleppo and the central city of Homs.

In the latest fighting, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported, fierce battles swept the northern city of Aleppo and the central city of Homs.

Responding to the news, Director of ODFS, Ribal Al-Assad said:

“I welcome the recent statement by the United Nations, as I have previously stated on many occasions a further militarisation of the conflict will only perpetuate further violence.

Every day, more and more international bodies are recognising the implications of arming the rebel movements, in light of this I hope that those who still support a further militarisation of the conflict reconsider their position as a matter of urgency.”