William Hague signalled that Britain is prepared to formally recognise a new Syrian opposition grouping, as he hailed an "encouraging tunring point" in fight against Bashar al-Assad.
Foreign Secretary William Hague shakes hands with President Sheikh Ahmed Mu'az Al-Khatb of the Syrian opposition movement Photo: PA
By Alex Spillius, Diplomatic Correspondent
1:08PM GMT 16 Nov 2012
France, Turkey and the Gulf states have also recognised a new Syrian opposition group as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, a move Mr Hague is likely to make next week after meeting delegates from Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces in London.
Officials from the US, France, Germany and other nations also attended meetings in London with the group, aimed at determining how better to support opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad and to stress the need for the opposition fighters to respect human rights.
On recognition of the opposition, Mr Hague said: “We would like to be able at an early stage to recognise them as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
“The meeting we have had today is an important component of that and we’ll continue to work on this over the next few days and I will make a further statement to our Parliament about this next week”.
Describing his talks with the opposition as “encouraging”, Mr Hague confirmed he would make a decision on recognition within a few days.
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Mr Hague said he had pressed Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib and his two deputies, who are on their first visit to a Western capital since a united Syrian opposition was formed last weekend, on the need to be inclusive and to respect human rights.
European nations are discussing whether to overturn an arms embargo on Syria, which would allow weapons to be supplied to rebel forces struggling to topple Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Britain has insisted so far that it will not supply weapons to Syria's rebels, but Mr Hague confirmed that the National Security Council had discussed whether a European Union arms embargo could be lifted.
The issue is likely to be discussed at a meeting of European foreign ministers on Monday.
“In our National Security Council yesterday we reviewed all the options on Syria. We don’t rule out any option on Syria, but we are conscious that this ultimately needs, whatever happens, a diplomatic and political solution.”
He added: "We cannot stand still, we cannot just say we will leave things as they are in Syria, because it is a gravely deteriorating situation. How we respond has to be well judged, well thought-through."
European nations are keen to see the US take a more prominent role vis a vis the rebels, now that its election is out of the way.
France has already raised the possibility of sending "defensive weapons" to Syria's rebels, though Russia, which has backed the Assad regime by vetoing sanctions at the United Nations Security Council, has warned that such a move would violate international law.
More than 39,000 people have died since the uprising against Mr Assad's regime erupted 20 months ago, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
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