UK to provide armored vehicles and body armor to Syrian opposition

Published time: March 06, 2013 18:13

British Foreign Secretary William Hague announced Wednesday that the UK will provide armored vehicles and body armor to rebel forces in Syria to “help save lives.”

The offer will include millions of pounds of non-lethal aid, which will also include search and rescue, disease prevention and communication equipment.

The package announced by Hague comes to 13 million pounds (US$19.5 million) and was made possible by changes to the terms of the EU arms embargo on Syria, which were agreed last week.

Hague told a largely-empty parliament that the UK was making a “necessary, proportionate and lawful”response to the “extreme human suffering” in Syria.

He said the world's efforts to try to end the conflict and violence there had been "an abject failure.”

"No Western government is advocating military intervention of Western nations into the conflict in Syria, the discussion is entirely focused on the degree of assistance that can and should be delivered to the opposition," Hague told MPs.

Hague was asked by Sir Gerald Howarth, the former Conservative defense minister, how confident he is that the moderate forces will be in charge when the regime falls and if the UK’s "hand is being drawn ever closer into this mangle.”

The minister replied that moderate forces are more likely to prevail if the opposition receives the kind of support the UK is offering.

Labour MP Peter Hain accused Hague of “making the situation worse” by not pushing hard enough for a diplomatic solution. Hague replied that, “every possibility has been given to the regime to negotiate.”

While Sir Menzies Campbell, a senior MP for the Liberal Democrats raised the 10th anniversary of what he called the “mistaken military action” in Iraq and said that many people fear a “drift” towards military intervention in Syria.

FULL STORY: http://rt.com/news/syria-war-uk-aid-902/