Syria Live Coverage: Hesitating on Weapons to Insurgents?

Insurgents with foreign-supplied weapons attacking in Idlib Province in February

See also Iraq (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 17 Killed in Mosque Bombings
Thursday's Syria Live Coverage: The Opposition Opens an Embassy

---

1314 GMT: American Arrested for Fighting Alongside Al Nusra Eric Harroun, a 30 year old former American soldier, has been arrested in Washington DC. Harroun has been fighting in Syria alongside the Syrian Islamic group Jabhat al Nusra. He is being charged for using a rocket propelled grenade outside of the service of the US military:

1134 GMT:Protest. Today's demonstration in Binnish in Idlib Province:

1128 GMT:Refugees. The UN refugee agency has criticised Turkey for sending 130 Syrians back to the conflict-ridden country without consulting it following a riot at the Suleymansah border camp.

An official at the camp and two Syrian refugees have said that the departures were forced.

Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency, warned Turkey today that forced returns violate international law and could not be used as a “punishment or deterrent.”

Turkish officials denied yesterday that the 130 people were forced to leave the camp, but did so voluntarily, having been identified as “involved in the provocations” during the riot after a fire that killed a boy.

1115 GMT: Insurgent Advance? Insurgents are claiming that they have taken the town of Dael in Daraa Province, near the Jordanian border (see map).

Abu Jamal, a spokesman for the Liwa Fajr al-Islam (Dawn of Islam Brigades) describes the capture of the Dawar Barrier in Dael:

0845 GMT: The Regime and Its Citizens. State media features the declaration of Prime Minister Wael al-Halki that "the Government is moving ahead with steady steps...[to] provide [for] all citizens' needs".

While declaring to the People's Assembly that the Syrian military is fighting "international terrorism", al-Halki gave the economic example "that the navigation movement at the ports of Lattakia and Tartous is quite good, stressing that ships are waiting to unload their cargos of imported goods of living needs for citizens".

The Prime Minsiter said thge Government "has made a decision to buy ten civil planes to facilitate services for citizens" and claimed that oil refineries could supply most needs, while others are being met by imports "from friendly countries".

0555 GMT: Casualties. The Local Coordination Committees claim 141 people were killed on Thursday, including 51 in Damascus and its suburbs --- 12 by a mortar attack on Damascus University --- and 42 in Daraa Province.

0540 GMT: Weapons and Insurgents. Since January, we have been documenting the private international effort --- including the US and some European countries --- to supply advanced weapons to insurgents, as well as the public debate over the level of support.

On Thursday, there was an interesting ripple in the story. French President Francois Hollande said Paris will uphold the European embargo on weapon deliveries to any group in Syria, apparently halt France's effort to change the policy.

That statement may have been taken as a bit of political posturing, but Hollande then added a telling remark that could put the private initiative into question. He said that Paris must be convinced that arms do not fall into the hands of terrorists: "At the moment, we do not have this guarantee."

A similar concern checked last year's move by an international coalition to get weapons to insurgents across the Turkish border.

France and Britain have been pressing for the relaxation of the arms embargo, which is due to expire on 1 June.

"We will not do it as long as we cannot be certain that there is complete control of the situation by the opposition," Hollande said.