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| Saudi Arabia calls on EU to arm Syrian rebels |
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 Saudi Arabia has called on the European Union to arm the Syrian rebels without delay, following similar action by the United States.
The European Union lifted restrictions on arming the rebels in May when it failed to renew a weapons arms embargo before it expired on June 1. But Britain and France, which had advocated lifting the ban, said they would not send weapons before August 1.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ... refers to the EU resolution to lift the ban on arming the Syrian opposition, and calls for the implementation of this resolution in light of the grievous realities on the ground in Syria," Saudi state news agency SPA quoted Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal as telling an EU-(P)GCC ministerial meeting in Bahrain on Sunday, Reuters reported.
The United States has promised the rebels military aid beyond what it calls the non-lethal equipment it had previously supplied.
The New York Times reported in June that the supplies, to be coordinated by the CIA, might include anti-tank weapons.
A Syrian minister has said that over two years of foreign-sponsored terrorism in the country has damaged about 9,000 state buildings and cost $15 billion in losses to the public sector.
Local Administration Minister Omar Al Ibrahim Ghalaounji said in comments published in Syrian newspapers on Sunday that the damages worth of $15 billion to the public sector were caused between March 2011 and March 2013.
He added that they were the result of "terrorist attacks on government buildings and infrastructure."
Former Syrian Planning Minister Abdullah al-Dardari has recently said that the Syrian crisis has cost $60-$80 billion in damages to the country’s economy.
He stated that the Syria economy has contracted by about 35 percent, compared to the 6 percent annual growth the country enjoyed in the five years before 2011.
According to Dardari, the Syrian economy has lost about 40 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), and there are some 2.5 million unemployed people in Syria today.
The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of government forces, have been killed.
Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.
The Syrian government says the West and its regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey -- are supporting the militants.
On June 4, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich issued a statement, saying, “We have more than once stated our opinion on this -- foreign weapons are being pumped into an explosive region.”
“This is happening very close to Syria, where for more than two years the flames are burning of a devastating conflict,” the statement added.
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