Alistair Burt
By Azmat Haroon
Doha: Providing arms to the Syrian National Coalition remains an option for the European Union, which has not been ruled out yet, a senior official from the United Kingdom has said.
The UK has been forcing EU to lift the arms embargo to be able to respond flexibly to events in Syria, Alistair Burt, British Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for the Middle East, said during a visit to Qatar.
“We have not taken a decision to arm the opposition, and if we did so, it would be according to terms set out by EU’s arms embargo. We have not ruled out this option, but our primary objective is to negotiate peace,” Burt told The Peninsula in an interview.
Burt was in Doha to discuss with the Foreign Minister H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah urgent regional issues, including the situation in Egypt, Syria, Iran and the possibility of a Middle East peace process.
Burt said that the UK continues to provide non-lethal support to the Syrian National Coalition, recently announcing an increase of £20m support to protect coalition members, and providing the Syrian people with communications equipment and humanitarian supplies.
“We have also been working to help the Syrian people have skills and ability to detect attacks upon them that go beyond conventional warfare.”
The UK is also supporting Geneva 2, an international peace conference to resolve the 28 month-old conflict.
“Geneva 2 is the best opportunity that we can see a peaceful resolution to the (Syrian) problem.
“We would call upon outsiders to stay out and back the Geneva process. Of course, Russia’s engagement in it would be crucial as well,” Burt said.
He said that the UK deplores the engagement of Iran and Hezbollah in the Syrian conflict, which also runs the risk of spreading over the border.
The UK has been pressing EU to blacklist the military wing of Hezbollah.
Asked why the UK has not condemned the military coup in Egypt so far, Burt said that while the UK does not support military intervention in a democratic situation, the military action in Egypt was taken with the support of the political classes, which was welcomed by a large number of people and cannot be ignored.
The minister denied claims of the UK having issues with the Islamist parties in Egypt.
“We had no issue with the election of president Mursi, which we believed to be free and fair. There was no issue with the government that he led.
“We are in favour of a political process which involves the Islamist parties and Freedom and Justice Party. If they win another election, they win another election, the UK has no issues with that,” Burt said.
He added that the UK is prepared to play its part with other international financial institutions to provide assistance to Egypt, given the conditions are right for such loans and support.
On the Middle East peace process, Burt said that the UK has never lost sight of how central resolving the issue between Israelis and the Palestinians is.
“We have backed the US Secretary of State John Kerry and we have encouraged Palestine and Israel to take part in it. If this opportunity is not taken, the future for a two-state solution becomes very dark.”
The Peninsula
