13/06/2012 18:50
Civil war may occur in Syria
With evidence that powerful new weapons are flowing to the Syrian government and to opposition fighters, the bloody uprising in Syria has thrust the Obama administration into an increasingly difficult position as the conflict shows signs of mutating into a full-fledged civil war, the New York Times reports.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Tuesday that the United States believed that Russia was shipping attack helicopters to Syria that President Bashar al-Assad could use to escalate his government’s deadly crackdown on civilians and the militias battling his rule.
Her comments reflected rising frustration with Russia, which has continued to supply weapons to its major Middle Eastern ally despite an international outcry over the government’s brutal crackdown.
Russia insists that it provides Damascus only with weapons that can be used in self-defense — an assertion made in a rejoinder to Mrs. Clinton by Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, while on a visit to Iran on Wednesday.