Hague's arms warning to Syria: Foreign Secretary says Britain will arm rebels unless Assad comes to negotiating table William Hague issued an ultimatum to Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad yesterday, warning Britain will arm the rebels seeking to oust him unless he comes to the negotiating table. The Foreign Secretary said there's a "compelling case" for changing the European Union arms embargo on Syria next week to allow weapons to go to moderate rebel groups. He said "no option" would be off limits if the Assad regime refuses to co-operate with plans for a peace conference in Geneva. Mr Hague said no decision has been made yet. But he argued the West has a "moral" duty to help those friendly to the outside world while Russia and Iran arm the regime and Arab states funnel weapons to Al Qaeda supporters. Mr Hague said: "People who are maybe described as rebels but are actually men, women and children sitting in their communities suffering virtually every kind of weapon that man has ever created being dropped on them while the world denies them the means to defend themselves." Mr Hague will join the French in an attempt to loosen the embargo at a meeting in Brussels next Monday, but if other EU countries don't agree it will lapse at the end of the month. He said changing the embargo is "essential" to force the Syrian regime to negotiate. "The United Kingdom and France are strongly of the view that changes to the embargo are not separate from the diplomatic work but essential to it," Mr Hague said. He repeated claims that between 70 and 100 British jihadis are fighting alongside Al Qaeda elements in Syria. Parliament would debate any decision to arm the rebels, he said. In a move that confirms the Government is close to a decision, Mr Hague spelt out three conditions applicable to any weapons offer. He told MPs: "If we were to pursue this, it would be under the following conditions - in co-ordination with other nations, in carefully controlled circumstances and in accordance with our obligations under national and international law." Tory and Labour MPs have warned the changes could drag Britain into a civil war that's already cost 70,000 lives. Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander told Mr Hague: "I believe that the risks of what could be a decade-long sectarian war in Syria, fuelled in part by weapons supplied by the United Kingdom, should give you serious pause for thought." Former Labour foreign secretary Jack Straw said: "If the embargo is lifted, is there not a risk that this could lead to an escalation of an arms race between the West and Russia and Iran."