Canada won't help arm Syrian terrorists

 

Canada won't help arm Syrian rebels: Baird   1:56 pm, May 28th, 2013   JESSICA MURPHY | QMI AGENCY   OTTAWA - Canada is breaking ranks with its European Union allies over the decision to allow member countries to arm Syrian rebels. On Tuesday, the EU failed to renew its Syrian arms embargo, freeing countries to funnel arms into the war-torn Mideast nation - an endeavour supported by both France and the UK.   Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Canada won't follow suit and instead supports a political solution to the civil war in Syria, now entering its third year.   But he shrugged off the disagreement.   "Sovereign governments make their own decisions," he said. "In Europe, we see a group of committed allies that are normally like-minded. On occasion, we are not. There's nothing wrong with honest differences of opinion."   Canada is wary of fully embracing the opposition rebels in Syria despite the federal government's repeated calls for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down.   While willing to engage with the rebels, Canada is among the few western governments refusing to recognize the opposition rebel coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.   "Our strong concern has been, and continues to be, the number of radical jihadists that have entered parts of the opposition and, in our view, that's not getting better. It is, in fact, getting worse," Baird said.   The UK and France committed to only supplying arms to "moderate" factions within the opposition. Still, the decision to allow the arms embargo to expire came after 12 hours of intense debate among EU member states. The U.K. said it has no plans to immediately arm the outgunned rebels.   - with files from Reuters