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Middle East and North Africa

Moscow condemns supplies of weaponry from Libya to Syria

"If the information proves to be true, then the case in hand is the crudest possible encroachment on the effective international embargo on arms trading with Libya" - Russian FM

Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, July 5 (Itar-Tass) - Unauthorized supplies of weaponry from Libya to the Syrian irreconcilable opposition mean a crude encroachment on the international embargo on arms trade with Libya, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.

“We noted with a strong sense of concern the recent news stories published by authoritative media units - The New York Times and Reuters - on the unauthorized supplies of weapons from Libya to the Syrian armed opposition via Qatar and Turkey,” the ministry said. “The diversity of the weapons is really big and their scope includes submachine-guns, machine guns, grenade launchers, and antitank systems.”

“If the information proves to be true, then the case in hand is the crudest possible encroachment on the effective international embargo on arms trading with Libya, which envisions a full ban on any supplies of weapons to and from Libya whoever the contracting parties might be,” the statement said.

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