This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.
Arab League says members free to offer Syria rebels arms Arab League member states state willingness to support rebel Syrian forces against Basha al-Assad's forces by offering all types of defence including military
Arab states are free to offer military support to rebels fighting the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if they wish, a final statement of Arab League ministers said on Wednesday. Previously the League had stressed that the Syrian opposition and rebels should be supported by humanitarian and diplomatic means. However, a final statement issued at the end of a meeting of the ministers in Cairo said they had "stressed the right of each state according to its wishes to offer all types of self defence, including military, to support the resilience of the Syrian people and the Free (Syrian) Army." Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told a news conference that the ministers had invited the opposition Syrian National Coalition - an umbrella body for anti-Assad political and rebel groups - to occupy the seat of Syria at the League. This was held by Damascus until it was suspended from the organisation in 2011. The statement called on the coalition to choose a representative to attend a League meeting to be held in Doha on 26 to 27 March. Qatar has led a push against Damascus in the League, which has been resisted by Lebanon, Iraq and Algeria. These three countries refused to endorse the final document's sections on Syria.