Syria: Britain, US and France in urgent talks on arming rebels

Added urgency was provided by the disclosure from David Cameron that rebel groups affiliated to al-Qaeda “have attempted to acquire” chemical weapons for use in Syria, citing briefings from British intelligence.

The US announcement that it would be sending military aid to the rebels, including communications equipment, logistical support and – according to some officials – light weapons and ammunition, has sharply upped the ante on Syria.

The Kremlin, which has backed the regime diplomatically and militarily and ignored months of Western entreaties to use their influence to rein in Mr Assad, reacted with derision to Washington’s finding that Syria had used chemical weapons.

_{US President Barack Obama has numerous problematic options to deal with over Syria.}

“What was presented by the Americans does not look convincing to us,” said Yuri Ushakov, President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, before comparing the findings to the US intelligence dossiers on Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.

Syria also predictably scorned the US findings, accusing the White House of making “a statement full of lies about the use of chemical weapons in Syria based on fabricated information”, according to a foreign ministry official quoted by the state news agency SANA.

“The United States is using cheap tactics to justify President Barack Obama’s decision to arm the Syrian opposition,” he added.

In Washington, Senator John McCain said the increased US support for the Syrian opposition was woefully inadequate, accusing President Barack Obama of “insane” and “disgraceful” inaction amid the massacre of 93,000 people.

“For us to sit by, and watch these people being massacred, raped, tortured, in the most terrible fashion, meanwhile the Russians are all in, Hizbollah is all-in, and we’re talking about giving them light weapons? It’s insane. And let me just tell you it is turning into a regional conflict, not just a conflict within Syria.

“Does anybody believe today that Bashar al-Assad is bound to fall? Of course not. It’s disgraceful, the conduct of the United States in sitting by and watching this happen.”

Mr Putin and Mr Obama are to meet on the sidelines of the G8 at Lough Erne, ostensibly to discuss how to resuscitate the Geneva peace proposals which is increasingly being overtaken by events on the ground. Fighting around the suburbs of Aleppo was reported to be “at its most violent in months”, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

_{Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama}

Europe remains divided over how best to assist the rebels, with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, calling for “urgent discussions” at the UN Security Council over how to bring all sides to the so-called Geneva II peace process announced in Moscow in May.

Sweden opposed the US move to provide greater military support. Carl Bildt, the foreign minister, warned that the US decision could set off an arms race with Russia, which is already considering whether to supply its advanced S300 air defence systems. “I don’t think the way forward is to get an arms race going in Syria,” he said, “There’s a risk that that would undermine the conditions for a political process.”

_{A photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA - a Syrian man who suffered an alleged chemical attack at Khan al-Assal village is treated in hospital}

Gen Salim Idris, the commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army, welcomed the US pledge of further support. “We hope to have the weapons and ammunition that we need in the near future,” he told Al-Arabiya TV. “This will surely reflect positively on the rebels’ morale.”

Downing Street said “no decision had been taken” on whether Britain – which pushed for the ending of an EU arms embargo last month – should join the US in arming the opposition fighters.

The option of enforcing a limited no-fly zone to protect rebel training bases in Jordan, is also being considered, according to US officials. However, the French government indicated that it would be almost impossible to secure the necessary international agreements.

_{A Free Syrian Army fighter pointing his weapon in the old city of Aleppo, Syria.}

US officials also played down the possibility, despite the deployment of Patriot missile and aircraft to Jordan in recent weeks, warning of “great and open-ended costs for the United States and the international community”.

Asked about a no-fly zone, Downing Street said “nothing was off the table”.