Hague's arms warning to Syria: Foreign Secretary says Britain will arm rebels unless Assad comes to negotiating table

Foreign Secretary William Hague told MPs said he wanted to increase support to 'moderates' fighting to bring down President Assad

William Hague issued an ultimatum to Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad yesterday, warning Britain will arm the rebels seeking to oust him unless he comes to the negotiating table.

The Foreign Secretary said there’s a ‘compelling case’ for changing the European Union arms embargo on Syria next week to allow weapons to go to moderate rebel groups.

He said ‘no option’ would be off limits if the Assad regime refuses to co-operate with plans for a peace conference in Geneva.

Mr Hague said no decision has been made yet. But he argued the West has a ‘moral’ duty to help those friendly to the outside world while Russia and Iran arm the regime and Arab states funnel weapons to Al Qaeda supporters.

Mr Hague said: ‘People who are maybe described as rebels but are actually men, women and children sitting in their communities suffering virtually every kind of weapon that man has ever created being dropped on them while the world denies them the means to defend themselves.’

Mr Hague will join the French in an attempt  to loosen the embargo at a meeting in Brussels next Monday, but if other EU countries don’t agree it will lapse at the end of the month.

He said changing the embargo is ‘essential’ to force the Syrian regime to negotiate.

‘The United Kingdom and France are strongly of the view that changes to the embargo are not separate from the diplomatic work but essential to it,’ Mr Hague said.

He repeated claims that between 70 and 100 British jihadis are fighting alongside Al Qaeda elements in Syria.

Parliament would debate any decision to arm the rebels, he said. In a move that confirms the Government is close to a decision, Mr Hague spelt out three conditions applicable to any weapons offer.

He told MPs: ‘If we were to pursue this, it would be under the following conditions – in  co-ordination with other nations, in carefully controlled circumstances and in accordance with our obligations under national and international law.’

Tory and Labour MPs have warned the changes could drag Britain into a civil war that’s already cost 70,000 lives.

Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander told Mr Hague: ‘I believe that the risks of what could be a decade-long sectarian war in Syria, fuelled in part by weapons supplied by the United Kingdom, should give you serious pause for thought.’

Former Labour foreign secretary Jack Straw said: ‘If the embargo is lifted, is there not a risk that this could lead to an escalation of an arms race between the West and Russia and Iran.’

Rebels: Free Syrian Army fighters prepare to launch a rocket in Deir al-Zor in the eastern part of the country

Mr Hague added: 'With every week that passes we are coming closer to the collapse of Syria and a regional catastrophe, with the lives of tens of thousands more Syrians at stake.

'We are determined to make every effort to end the carnage, to minimise the risks to the region, and to protect the security of the United Kingdom.'

The death toll from the conflict has doubled in the first five months of 2013 and now stands at 80,000 people.

More than 4million Syrians have been 'displaced' and some 6.8million are in 'desparate need', including 3million children, Mr Hague added.

Battle: A Kurdish female fighter who is a sniper takes aim for her vantage point in Aleppo

Fall out: Syrians inspecting the rubble of damaged buildings due to government airstrikes in Qusair

Last month the European Union’s security chief Gilles de Kerchove warned hundreds of young men from across Europe are fighting with rebel forces in Syria.

Gilles de Kerchove said those fighting to bring down President Assad, including many Britons, will be ‘radicalised’ before returning home where they will pose a ‘serious threat’ to national security.

It is feared some will become members of groups with links to al-Qaeda before launching terror attacks at home.

Mr de Kerchove, the EU’s counter-terrorism coordinator, said: ‘We are concerned, of course.’

He said most of the Europeans agreeing to fight with the rebels were being converted by radicals in Syria.

‘Not all of them are radical one day when they leave but most likely many of them will be radicalised there, they will be trained,’ he told the BBC.

‘And as we have seen in previous situations this might create a serious threat when they get back.’