European Union ban on arming Syrian fighters lifted

A ban on arming Syrian opposition forces has been automatically lifted.

The move comes after European Union foreign ministers failed to reach an agreement on amending it, which led to opening up the possibility for Britain and France to start supplying weapons to Syrian rebels.

According to the Independent, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the decision in Brussels was aimed at sending a political signal and London had no plans to start arming the rebels.

He however added the outcome of the EU summit gave them the flexibility to deal with a worsening situation.

Some countries led by Austria have argued that sending more weapons to Syria, a country already awash with arms and to a fractured opposition with factions linked to al-Qa'ida, would only worsen a conflict which has already killed 80,000 people.

Austrian Foreign Minister, Michael Spindelegger, said that they were greatly concerned about the possible shipment of more arms to the conflict zone.

According to the report, the arms embargo was linked to a whole package of other sanctions imposed on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition in 2011, and unanimous agreement was needed to amend or renew the embargo.

As that unanimity was not reached, it automatically expires at the end of the week.