US says it supports EU easing of Syria arms embargo

The United States said Tuesday it supports the European Union’s decision to ease an arms embargo on Syria as a show of “full support” for rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

“While it is ultimately an EU decision, we do support the easing of the EU arms embargo as a part of the international community’s efforts to demonstrate its full support for the Syrian opposition,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.

He said the action would give each EU member state flexibility to support the Syrian opposition as it sees fit.

While the United States has so far provided only non-lethal aid to the Syrian opposition, Ventrell said “this allows others to continue to accelerate that assistance to the opposition.”