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Split Over Syria Becomes Clearer as Group of 8 Meets Syria and Russia Warn West Against Aiding Rebels
(about 7 hours later)
ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland — Ahead of a meeting of leaders of industrialized nations that is likely to be dominated by the crisis in Syria, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said Monday that he found some elements of the Syrian opposition worrying, but that he sought to keep open the option of arming those who want a democratic future. ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland — The Syrian and Russian governments warned the West on Monday not to arm Syria’s insurgency or attempt to provide a no-fly zone to protect rebel-held areas of the country, as leaders of the Group of 8 industrialized nations, including Russia, were convening a summit meeting in which the Syrian conflict was expected to dominate discussions.
Even before leaders had arrived for the two-day meeting, differences were evident on Sunday when President Vladimir V. Putin, who has supported the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, warned against arming the rebels there. President Bashar al-Assad of Syria told a German newspaper that if weapons were furnished to the insurgents, “Europe’s backyard will become terrorist and Europe will pay the price.” He also denied the increasingly emphatic assertions by Western powers that his government has used deadly sarin nerve gas in the conflict.
On Monday, the subject is likely to provoke more tension during a summit meeting that is also expected to start discussions on closer trade ties between the European Union and the United States. Leaders also plan to discuss international moves to clamp down on tax evasion and the questionable practices companies use to reduce their tax payments. Mr. Assad’s remarks were published on the Web site of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Monday. They amounted to his first comments on Western weapons for the Syrian insurgency since the Obama administration announced last Thursday that it intended to provide some armaments to a vetted group of insurgents seeking to topple Mr. Assad.
Speaking on Monday in Northern Ireland, Mr. Cameron, who faces internal opposition within his coalition government to arming Syrian rebels, said he had made no decision on the issue. The European Union has also signaled the possibility that it could arm the insurgents, having allowed an embargo to expire.
Earlier Monday, the Foreign Ministry of Russia, the Assad government’s most powerful foreign supporter, said it would not abide no-fly zones in Syria, drawing a parallel to NATO’s aerial bombardment of Libya that helped insurgents there topple Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in October 2011. The NATO countries took that action after having secured authorization through a United Nations Security Council resolution.
“I think we fundamentally will not allow this scenario,” the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich, was quoted by news agencies as telling reporters at a Kremlin briefing.
The Russia position underlined the differences of opinion on Syria policy among the Group of 8 powers as their leaders prepared for the two-day summit meeting here.
Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, one of Mr. Assad's most strident Western critics, said Monday that he found some elements of the Syrian opposition worrying, but that he sought to keep open the option of arming those who want a democratic future.
Speaking in Northern Ireland, Mr. Cameron, who faces internal opposition within his coalition government to arming Syrian rebels, said he had made no decision on the issue.
“I am as worried as anyone else about elements of the Syrian opposition who are extremists, who support terrorism, who are a great danger to our world. The question is what do we do about that?” Mr. Cameron said.“I am as worried as anyone else about elements of the Syrian opposition who are extremists, who support terrorism, who are a great danger to our world. The question is what do we do about that?” Mr. Cameron said.
“My argument is that we shouldn’t accept that the only alternative to Assad is terrorism and violence,'’ Mr. Cameron said. “We should be on the side of Syrians who want a democratic and peaceful future for their country and one without the man who is currently using chemical weapons against them.”“My argument is that we shouldn’t accept that the only alternative to Assad is terrorism and violence,'’ Mr. Cameron said. “We should be on the side of Syrians who want a democratic and peaceful future for their country and one without the man who is currently using chemical weapons against them.”
After a meeting in London on Sunday with the prime minister, Mr. Putin responded in combative style after being asked if he had blood on his hands for providing military support to the Assad government. On Sunday President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who met with Mr. Cameron in London in advance of the Group of 8 meeting here, responded in combative style when asked if he had blood on his hands for providing military support to the Assad government.
“One hardly should back those who kill their enemies and, you know, eat their organs,” he said, referring to widely publicized film footage in which a member of an anti-Assad militia appears to eat part of a dead government soldier.“One hardly should back those who kill their enemies and, you know, eat their organs,” he said, referring to widely publicized film footage in which a member of an anti-Assad militia appears to eat part of a dead government soldier.
“Do we want to support these people? Do we want to supply arms to these people?” Mr. Putin asked. “Do we want to support these people?” Mr. Putin asked. “Do we want to supply arms to these people?”
The United States has said that it will supply some rebels with direct military aid, and Britain and France succeeded in getting the European Union to allow its ban on supplying arms to the country to expire, despite the reservations of many countries within the 27-member bloc. Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, told the BBC on Monday that there was no “palatable option” for dealing with the crisis in Syria and that “extremists” were supporting both Mr. Assad’s government and the rebel forces. Any military help provided by the West would go to “moderates,” he said.
On Monday, Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, told the BBC that there was no “palatable option” for dealing with the crisis in Syria and that “extremists” were supporting both Mr. Assad’s government and the rebel forces. The help would go to “moderates,” he said.

Rick Gladstone contributed reporting from New York.