Second Cold War? US arming Syrian rebels is a big gamble
US President Barack Obama has tip-toed over the 'red-line' and armed Syrian rebels but it is a gamble of huge proportions.
The timing and impact of US support for Syria's rebels
Writing for ITV News, international affairs analyst David Butter looks at the timing of US support for Syria and when it may arrive.
US tries to change dynamics on the Syrian battlefield
Are the US supplied assault rifles too little, too late and what incentive is there for Assad to enter peace talks?
Live updates
Russia: Syria chemical weapon use 'unproven'
Russia cannot agree with "unproven" allegations of chemical weapon use by the Syrian government, deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters.
Russia blocks G8 discussions of Assad's future
Russia blocked any mention of the fate of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in a final G8 summit communique, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters.
Ryabkov said G8 leaders including Russian president Vladimir Putin and US. president Barack Obama were likely to urge progress on holding a Syrian peace conference which Moscow believes is the only way to resolve the Syrian conflict.
"By the end of the day you will see a serious, concrete document on Syria that has not been watered down," Ryabkov told reporters on the sidelines of the summit near the Northern Irish town of Enniskillen.
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Fears arming Syrian rebels could increase terrorism threat
The British public is concerned that there could be serious consequences to the arming of Syrian rebels the latest Index poll conducted by ComRes for ITV News at Ten has revealed.
- More than half (56%) believe that the British government should not arm the rebels because of the risk that the weapons will fall into the hands of terrorists.
- 56% worry that arming Syrian rebels will increase the risk of terrorist attacks aimed at Britain.
- One in six (15%) disagree, 13% disagree and 31% are not sure.
- One in two believe (48%) believe that civil war in Syria is “none of our business” but one in four (27%) disagree.
- One in two believe (48%) believe that civil war in Syria is “none of our business” but one in four (27%) disagree.
- While two in five (39%) say it is the responsibility of world leaders to help civilians under attack from the Assad regime by any means necessary, 28% disagree.
Just a quarter (25%) of those questioned would support the use of British ground troops if they were deemed necessary to bring peace and stability. With half against the use of British troops on the ground in Syria.
Majority of British public against arming Syrian rebels
More than half of the British public do not support the idea of the UK arming Syrian rebels according to a news ComRes poll for ITV News.
As the latest G8 Summit in Northern Ireland is set to be dominated by international division over the ongoing conflict in Syria, support for the British government providing arms to the Syrian rebels is at just 17%, while 53% oppose the idea.
Assad: Europe will 'pay the price' if it arms rebels
Europe will "pay the price" if it decides to arm rebel forces in Syria, President Bashar al-Assad has said during an interview with a German newspaper.
Warning that the decision would result in an export of "terrorism" to Europe, Assad said:
"If the Europeans deliver weapons, the backyard of Europe will become terrorist and Europe will pay the price for it.
"Terrorists will gain experience in combat and return with extremist ideologies," the Syrian President told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview due to be published on Tuesday.
The comments were Assad's first since the United States announced that they would be supplying military aid to rebel fighters.
Report: Explosion in diplomatic quarter of Damascus
Syrian state TV is reporting an explosion in a neighborhood of the capital Damascus that houses embassies and a military airport.
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Clegg: 'Striking the right balance' on arming Syrian rebels
The Deputy Prime Minister said questions about whether he would support arming the Syrian rebels in a Commons vote was "academic" as the Government had yet to decide if it wanted to follow this course of action.
Nick Clegg told the BBC One Andrew Marr programme that the appropriate course of action was for the Government to make its decision before testing opinion in the Commons.
We need to work in concert with our allies but we don't all need to do the identical thing.
We are already providing assistance to the opposition, we should do that. The balance we are trying to strike - a difficult one - is how do you provide support to people who we have already recognised as the legitimate successors of the Assad regime?
We are providing non-lethal assistance, we have taken no decision to provide lethal assistance.We clearly don't think it is the right thing to do now otherwise we would have decided to do it.
Mr Clegg said Britain's current contributions - items like armoured 4x4s, body armour and communications equipment - offered a "great deal of assistance" to the official opposition.He said discussions with Mr Cameron continued on an "on-going basis"
We both understand we are trying to strike the right balance between playing a part with other allies to provide support to the opposition who we think deserve support so they can play a leading role in forging a new Syria.
But not at the same time embroiling this country in another conflict in a way I don't think would be acceptable to the British people.
PM wants to see extremists 'driven out' of Syria
Prime Minister David Cameron said he wants to see al Qaeda-linked extremists "driven out" of Syria.
Mr Cameron acknowledged there are "deeply unsavoury" elements of the Syrian opposition that he wants "nothing to do with", but said the British Government would continue to offer non-lethal support to the "genuine" political opposition.
Speaking to Sky News' Murnaghan programme, the Prime Minister said: "There are elements of the Syrian opposition who want to see a free democratic, pluralistic Syria that respects the rights of minorities including Christians and we should be working with them - we are working with them.
"If we don't work with those elements of the Syrian opposition, then we can't be surprised if the only elements of the Syrian opposition that are getting, that are actually making any progress in Syria, are the ones that we don't approve of".
Cameron and Putin to discuss Syria crisis ahead of G8
David Cameron will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin today for talks on the Syrian crisis.
The meeting - on the eve of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland - comes as President Barack Obama is preparing to arm the Syrian rebels, saying his administration is convinced the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons against its own people.
Mr Putin has made no secret of his opposition to any move by the West to supply arms to the Syrian opposition.
The Russian president has also reacted sceptically to evidence produced by Britain, France and the US that Bashar al-Assad's regime has used chemical weapons - which crosses President Obama's "red line" for intervention.
Mr Cameron welcomed the US announcement, although he has yet to decide whether to follow the President's lead on supplying arms to the rebels.
Egypt's Morsi calls for Syria no-fly zone
Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi urged world powers not to hesitate to enforce a no-fly zone over Syria.
The Islamist head of state had previously appeared somewhat less confrontational toward President Bashar al-Assad than Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
But in a speech to Sunni Muslim clerics in Cairo he said he had cut all ties to Damascus and demanded Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah movement quit Syria.
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