27 May 2013
Last updated at 15:59 GMT
- Doucet: Week of critical decisions
- Could conflict become regional war?
- Low poll support for arming rebels
- Hezbollah's growing role in conflict
27 May 2013
Last updated at 18:11 GMT
UK-based charity Hand in Hand for Syria said he died shortly after Wednesday's attack in the city of Sidlib.
Chairman Faddy Sahloul said Dr Rahman was "one of the bravest and most dedicated people I have met".
British doctor killed in Syria after hospital shelled
A British doctor has died in Syria after the makeshift hospital he was working in was shelled, a charity says.
Dr Isa Abdur Rahman, a 26-year-old graduate from Imperial
College London, had travelled to Syria to treat injured civilians,
putting his career on hold.UK-based charity Hand in Hand for Syria said he died shortly after Wednesday's attack in the city of Sidlib.
Chairman Faddy Sahloul said Dr Rahman was "one of the bravest and most dedicated people I have met".
27 May 2013
Last updated at 18:22 GMT
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are also holding talks on the conflict.
Meanwhile French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said there were "growing suspicions" of "localised" chemical weapons use in Syria.
Mr Fabius said the evidence needed "very detailed verification".
"We are consulting with our partners to examine what specific consequences to draw," he added.
There has been increasing pressure on the international community to act since allegations emerged of chemical weapons being used in the conflict. Syria has denied using chemical weapons.
The meeting in Brussels comes as the US, France and Russia push for Syria's opposition to join President Bashar al-Assad's government at an international peace conference next month.
Syria's foreign minister confirmed on Sunday that the government would "in principle" attend the summit.
Members of the main opposition coalition are currently meeting in the Turkish city of Istanbul to decide whether to attend the conference.
They were given an unofficial deadline of Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov's meeting in Paris this evening, the BBC's Jim Muir reports.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said that Britain fully backed the peace conference as "in the end there is only a political and diplomatically supported solution".
Mr Fabius's remarks about chemical weapons do not appear to have persuaded others of the need to ease the embargo, our correspondent says.
Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said that a majority of countries were backing his position in favour of an extension of the embargo.
It seems the most likely outcome is a compromise which would involve extending it without amendment for a short period to see if the peace conference is successful.
There are fears that if the embargo is eased anti-aircraft and
anti-tank weapons given to rebel fighters considered "moderate" might
end up in the hands of jihadist militants, including those from the
al-Nusra Front, which has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda.
But last week Mr Hague told British MPs that weapons would be supplied only "under carefully controlled circumstances" and with clear commitments from the opposition.
The EU embargo, first imposed in May 2011, applies to the rebels as much as the Syrian government.
Oxfam has warned of "devastating consequences" if the embargo ends.
"There are no easy answers when trying to stop the bloodshed in Syria, but sending more arms and ammunition clearly isn't one of them," the aid agency's head of arms control, Anna Macdonald, said in a statement on Thursday.
Fighting in Syria continued on Monday around the strategic town of Qusair, a few miles from the Lebanese border.
A prominent Syrian female TV journalist, Yara Abbas, was killed just outside the town, pro-government Ikhbariya TV said, in clashes that have threatened to spill over into Lebanon.
Dozens of militants from the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah movement have been killed in Qusair in the past week. The latest violence has prompted UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay to issue a dire warning.
"A humanitarian, political and social catastrophe is already upon us and what awaits us is truly a nightmare," she told the start of a session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. COPY http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Syria conflict: EU considers amending arms embargo
EU members states are divided on lifting the arms embargo
EU foreign ministers are discussing UK and French calls to ease sanctions so Syria rebels can be supplied with arms.
France and the UK argue that the move would push Damascus towards a political solution, but some EU states oppose it.US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are also holding talks on the conflict.
Meanwhile French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said there were "growing suspicions" of "localised" chemical weapons use in Syria.
Mr Fabius said the evidence needed "very detailed verification".
"We are consulting with our partners to examine what specific consequences to draw," he added.
Continue reading the main story
The Syrian opposition coalition is almost paralysed by splits,
not just between its own components, but among its outside supporters
with their different agendas.
On the ground, the Syrian regime is looking stronger than it has for a long time.
Towards the end of last year, rebel forces were moving in around Damascus. The demise of Bashar al-Assad and his entourage seemed inevitable, if not imminent. Now, few would confidently predict his downfall.
Iran's Lebanese Shia allies Hezbollah have pitched in and are making a difference - and taking casualties.
That's not to say the regime is likely to sweep the board and win the war. If the West does decide to arm the rebels, things could turn around again quite quickly. The only sure thing is that a lot more fighting, and a lot more bloodletting, lie ahead before either side can hope for victory. And what will be left?
Analysis
On the ground, the Syrian regime is looking stronger than it has for a long time.
Towards the end of last year, rebel forces were moving in around Damascus. The demise of Bashar al-Assad and his entourage seemed inevitable, if not imminent. Now, few would confidently predict his downfall.
Iran's Lebanese Shia allies Hezbollah have pitched in and are making a difference - and taking casualties.
That's not to say the regime is likely to sweep the board and win the war. If the West does decide to arm the rebels, things could turn around again quite quickly. The only sure thing is that a lot more fighting, and a lot more bloodletting, lie ahead before either side can hope for victory. And what will be left?
He was speaking after the French newspaper Le Monde on Monday reported that rebel forces in the Damascus suburb of Jobar had been targeted by canisters of toxic gas since last month.
A photographer working for the paper "suffered blurred vision and respiratory difficulties for four days", it said.There has been increasing pressure on the international community to act since allegations emerged of chemical weapons being used in the conflict. Syria has denied using chemical weapons.
The meeting in Brussels comes as the US, France and Russia push for Syria's opposition to join President Bashar al-Assad's government at an international peace conference next month.
Syria's foreign minister confirmed on Sunday that the government would "in principle" attend the summit.
Members of the main opposition coalition are currently meeting in the Turkish city of Istanbul to decide whether to attend the conference.
They were given an unofficial deadline of Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov's meeting in Paris this evening, the BBC's Jim Muir reports.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said that Britain fully backed the peace conference as "in the end there is only a political and diplomatically supported solution".
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
One of the main concerns in many European capitals is the impact any lifting or easing of the EU arms embargo might have on the fragile effort to fashion a political transition”
But he said amending the EU arms
embargo was "part of supporting the diplomatic work". President Assad's
government needed "a clear signal that it has to negotiate seriously",
he said.
'Peace community'
Hours into the EU meeting, foreign ministers were still locked
in discussions on the arms embargo, says the BBC's Matthew Price in
Brussels.Mr Fabius's remarks about chemical weapons do not appear to have persuaded others of the need to ease the embargo, our correspondent says.
Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said that a majority of countries were backing his position in favour of an extension of the embargo.
It seems the most likely outcome is a compromise which would involve extending it without amendment for a short period to see if the peace conference is successful.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague explained the government's position
But last week Mr Hague told British MPs that weapons would be supplied only "under carefully controlled circumstances" and with clear commitments from the opposition.
The EU embargo, first imposed in May 2011, applies to the rebels as much as the Syrian government.
Continue reading the main story
EU arms embargo on Syria
- Ban on export/import of arms and equipment for internal repression since May 2011
- Non-lethal military equipment and technical assistance allowed under certain conditions since Feb 2013
- All Syrian cargo planes banned from EU airports
- EU states obliged to inspect Syria-bound ships or planes suspected of carrying arms
- Assets freeze on 54 groups and 179 people responsible for or involved in repression
- Export ban on technical monitoring equipment
But in February this year,
foreign ministers agreed to enable any EU member state to provide
non-lethal military equipment "for the protection of civilians" or for
the opposition forces, "which the Union accepts as legitimate representatives of the Syrian people".
Unanimity is needed, and Mr Hague warned that if a deal could
not be agreed, each member state would have to ensure it had its own
sanctions.Oxfam has warned of "devastating consequences" if the embargo ends.
"There are no easy answers when trying to stop the bloodshed in Syria, but sending more arms and ammunition clearly isn't one of them," the aid agency's head of arms control, Anna Macdonald, said in a statement on Thursday.
Fighting in Syria continued on Monday around the strategic town of Qusair, a few miles from the Lebanese border.
A prominent Syrian female TV journalist, Yara Abbas, was killed just outside the town, pro-government Ikhbariya TV said, in clashes that have threatened to spill over into Lebanon.
Dozens of militants from the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah movement have been killed in Qusair in the past week. The latest violence has prompted UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay to issue a dire warning.
"A humanitarian, political and social catastrophe is already upon us and what awaits us is truly a nightmare," she told the start of a session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. COPY http://www.bbc.co.uk/
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