| Syria officers and troops 'defect to Turkey' | |||
Turkish media says 33 members of the Syrian army, including a general and two colonels, have arrived in the country. Last Modified: 25 Jun 2012 10:06 | |||
 The EU is adding another Syrian official and six companies and government institutions to its sanctions list [AFP] | |||
| Turkey's state-run news agency says 33 more members of the Syrian military have defected to Turkey with their families at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries over Syria's downing of a Turkish plane. Anadolu said on Monday that the group, which includes a general and two colonels, crossed into Turkey overnight and that they were being hosted at a refugee camp near the border.
Thousands of soldiers have abandoned the army, but most are low-level conscripts. The Free Syria Army, the loosely linked group of rebel forces, is made up largely of defectors. Turkey, once a close ally of Syria, summoned an emergency NATO meeting for Tuesday after accusing Damascus of shooting down one of its military planes in international airspace. The Dutch foreign minister on Monday said that the European Union will condemn Syria's downing of a Turkish jet, but will not support military intervention in the troubled country. "What happened is to be considered very seriously [but] we do not go for any interventions," Uri Rosenthal said. Fresh sanctions The EU is to add another Syrian official and six firms and government institutions to its sanctions list, EU spokesman Maja Kocijanci said on Monday. The list already includes more than 120 individuals and nearly 50 entities.
No details were immediately available on the identities of those targeted. The sanctions also include a specific ban on insuring items embargoed for delivery to Syria, including arms shipments. The measure follows an incident last week involving a British-insured Russian cargo ship carrying attack helicopters for Syria. The US alerted the UK to the consignment and British security services told insurers Standard Club that providing insurance for the shipment would breach EU sanctions, reports said. Standard Club then cancelled insurance for the ship as well as others in the fleet owned by Russian cargo line Femco, forcing the vessel to head home. |
