The supplies will personal protection equipment including body armour to help opposition figures being killed by Government forces

The first British-born casualty of the Syrian civil war has been revealed as Ibrahim al-Mazwagi, a 21-year-old jihadist who graduated from Hertfordshire University last year.

Foreign Secretary William Hague branded Bashar al-Assad “delusional” today after the Syrian President accused Britain of fanning the flames of the country’s civil war by attempting to arm the rebels.

Britain's inability to persuade its fellow EU countries to have weapons supplied to non-Islamist groups in the Syrian opposition was a diplomatic failure waiting to happen. The result is that Britain is left wringing its hands on the sidelines, while Russia's efforts to guide future peace negotiations between the two sides seem increasingly assured and promising. To invert Douglas Hurd's famous formulation, we are punching below our weight: pressing for aggressive solutions which we lack both the muscle to impose ourselves, and the powers of argument to convince our allies to support.

Rebels have captured most of an oil field in the energy-rich north-east, the latest in a string of strategic conquests this week that also included a dam and the defences around a major airport.

It has become “a matter of great concern” to the US that Iran appears to be stepping up its support of the regime in Syria with shipments of increasingly sophisticated equipment as well as personnel into the country, Hillary Clinton said before stepping down tonight as Secretary of State.

Russia will send planes to Beirut tomorrow to begin evacuating its citizens from Syria, an indication of the worsening security situation as rebels inch forward against the regime from their strongholds in the southern suburbs of Damascus.

Damascus denounced the international envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, as “flagrantly biased” today, casting doubt on how long the UN-Arab League mediator can pursue his peace mission.

The message for Syrians was clear: the army is the bedrock of power

At least 60,000 people have been killed in Syria's civil war, with monthly casualty figures steadily increasing since the conflict began almost two years ago, according to new figures released today by the United Nations.

Almost two years on from the first protests against Bashar Assad's regime, in late January 2011, Western leaders, David Cameron among them, are desperate for the civil war in Syria to end. Deeply hostile to the regime in Damascus, but alarmed by the growing prominence of al-Qa'ida supporters in the ranks of the opposition, they yearn for Mr Assad to go before the Islamists become unstoppable.

Syria's opposition leader has rejected an invitation to visit Russia for peace talks, dealing another blow to international hopes that diplomacy can end the nation's 21-month civil war.

Fighters from as many as 29 countries have filtered into Syria to join a civil war that has split along sectarian lines, increasingly pitting the ruling Alawite community against the majority Sunni Muslims, UN human rights investigators said today.

An Islamist faction of Syrian rebels captured an infantry base in the northern city of Aleppo, its fighters said today, as forces fighting to topple President Bashar Assad advanced on the country's largest city.