ISTANBUL - The European Union will discuss the question of easing an arms embargo preventing weapons supplies to Syrian rebels in the coming weeks, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday.

"This is a discussion we have to have in the EU over the next six weeks. We and France have said there will be a strong case for lifting the embargo, amending the embargo," Hague told reporters at a meeting of the "Friends of Syria" in Istanbul.

He said the opposition had given the clearest commitment yet at the meeting to working towards a democratic solution in Syria and condemning extremism.