Germany will never send arms to Syria militants: Merkel
Iran Press TV
Wed May 29, 2013 9:25PM GMT
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says her country will never send arms to the militants in Syria despite a decision by the European Union to legally pave the way for such a measure.
"I would like to say that Germany will under no circumstances send weapons to Syria -- a country in civil war- - no matter how other countries deal with the arms embargo," Merkel said on Wednesday.
Her comments came two days after the 27-nation bloc, pushed by Britain and France, decided to lift the Union’s arms embargo on Syria. Merkel reiterated “the real solution for Syria is political,” adding that Germany attaches importance to the US-Russian initiative to hold a conference on Syria in Geneva probably on June 15 and 16.
On Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov strongly slammed EU’s decision as "a manifestation of double standards" that will hurt the prospects for Geneva conference.
He also confirmed that Moscow, in accordance with a previous contract with Syria, will provide the Arab country with S-300 air defense missiles to "help restrain some hot-heads considering a scenario to give an international dimension to this conflict."
Russia’s announcement worried Israel with its Minister for Military Affairs Moshe Ya'alon saying on Tuesday that, "Clearly this move is a threat to us." He added that Israel “will know what to do” once the missiles arrive in Syria.
The EU announced the decision more than two months after the Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List revealed that 3,000 tons of weapons, paid for by Saudi Arabia as requested by the US, have been airlifted from Zagreb airport to the militants in Syria through Jordan and Turkey, adding that the weapons came "from several other European countries including Britain."
MA/AS
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