BEIRUT/BRUSSELS — The chief of Syria's main, Western-backed rebel group marked the second anniversary of the uprising against President Bashar Al-Assad by pledging Friday to continue fighting until the “criminal” regime is gone. Gen. Salim Idris, the head of the Supreme Military Council, called on Syrian soldiers to join the rebels in a “fight for freedom and democracy” and said that his Free Syrian Army fighters “will not give up.” In Damascus, authorities beefed up security measures as rebel groups called for stepped-up attacks on government troops and state institutions on the anniversary. Idris' assertion came as European Union governments rejected Franco-British efforts to lift an EU arms embargo to allow weapons supplies to the rebels, saying this could spark an arms race and worsen regional instability. The revolt against Assad's authoritarian rule began in March 2011 with protests in the southern city of Daraa, after troops arrested teenagers who scrawled anti-regime graffiti on a wall. It has since morphed into a civil war with an estimated 70,000 people killed, according to the UN. “We want (a) Syria where every Syrian can live in peace and liberty. This is our dream, this is what we are fighting for,” Idris said in a video address obtained by The Associated Press from the Council's media office. He spoke in from undisclosed location in the north that is under rebel control. “I know our battle is not so easy. We have to fight against planes, tanks and huge missiles,” Idris said. “But our will is still very strong. We will not stop until this criminal regime has gone.” At the EU summit in Brussels, France and Britain found little support for their proposal, diplomats said, but EU foreign ministers will consider the issue again next week. French President Francois Hollande, backed by British Prime Minister David Cameron, pressed for the embargo to be lifted, saying Europe could not allow the Syrian people to be massacred. Western nations have mostly stood on the sidelines during the anti-Assad revolt. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a leading opponent of lifting the arms embargo, said there was a danger that Assad's allies Russia and Iran could step up arms supplies to his government if the EU lifted its restrictions. Just because Britain and France now wanted to drop the ban, that didn't mean 25 other states must follow suit, she told a news conference in Brussels. “That will not be the case.” The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was “deplorable” people were getting used to the fact that so many civilians were being killed each day, with a daily tally of between 100 and 200 dead. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said there was a real risk of a regional “explosion” if the conflict was allowed to drag on. — Agencies
