Europe’s Stance on Syria Weak, Britons Charge

British parliamentary leaders across the political spectrum reacted with a mixture of anger and disappointment Tuesday over the failure of Britain’s partners in the European Communities to agree on sanctions against Syria.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher suggested that the refusal of the communities’ foreign ministers to take action against Syria contradicted a previous European agreement. Her defense secretary said it was time for Britain’s allies to “stand up and be counted” against terrorism. And a leader of the opposition Labor Party said the Common Market’s failure to act was “deplorable.”

But despite their disappointment, British officials remained cautiously optimistic that the communities will take at least some limited steps at a follow-up meeting scheduled for Nov. 10.

Aid to Expire Soon

Meanwhile, Britain announced that it will block any attempt to renew the Common Market’s five-year, $95-million program of aid to Syria, which is to expire shortly.

“There can be no question of (Britain’s) agreeing to further financial assistance for Syria in present circumstances,” British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe told the House of Commons on Tuesday.

Britain’s opposition effectively blocks the aid, which can be granted only with the unanimous consent of all 12 member states of the European Communities.

At a marathon meeting Monday in Luxembourg, Howe was not able to persuade representatives of the 11 other countries to take the measures Britain has taken against Syria, including the recall of ambassadors from Damascus, the Syrian capital.

Howe submitted to the Luxembourg meeting what he called “conclusive evidence” of Syria’s role in a plot to blow up an Israeli airliner last April.

Using Syrian Passport

The key figure in that incident, a Jordanian national named Nezar Hindawi, who was convicted by an British jury last Friday, is said to have traveled on an official Syrian government passport, to have met with the Syrian ambassador in London and to have used accommodations reserved for Syrian Arab Airlines.

The lack of European Communities action dominated the House of Commons debate Tuesday. Thatcher told the House: “I hope they will consider the matter further, especially in view of the bold statements previously made. I hope . . . that at the next meeting, they put what they said into practice.”

She appeared to be referring to a declaration by the foreign ministers of the Common Market countries, in September, 1984, committing their governments to united action against terrorism.

The opposition Labor Party’s spokesman on defense questions, Denis Healey, described as “deplorable” the outcome of Monday’s Common Market meeting.

Anger Over Greece

Britons were especially incensed by the appearance of Greece’s Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos, who said in a television interview seen here, “We don’t think we can accuse the Syrian government in this affair.”

Several British newspapers carried angry editorials about the snub of the Thatcher government’s request for collective sanctions, and one newspaper labeled the Common Market a “jellyfish.” Much of the press criticism was aimed at Greece and at France, which has denied persistent reports that it is arranging a major arms sale with Syria.

British officials’ optimism that the European Communities may still agree to take some action against Syria appears to be based on an agreement at Luxembourg to take up four specific issues at the Nov. 10 foreign ministers’ meeting. The issues are:

--A ban on European arms sales to Syria.

--An end to high-level visits between Common Market member countries and Syria.

--Restrictions on activities of Syrian embassies in Common Market countries.

--A tightening of security controls on the state-owned Syrian Arab Airlines.

Sources in the British Foreign Office noted that half the European Communities’ foreign ministers were absent from the Luxembourg meeting, including Jean-Bernard Raimond of France and Hans-Dietrich Genscher of West Germany. They said this hampered the prospects for immediate, decisive action.

Both Raimond and Genscher were attending a Franco-German meeting in Frankfurt.

Foreign Secretary Howe, a man noted for his reserved, low-key manner, was said to have banged the table at one point in frustration over the reluctance of the other governments to take the proposed action.

With the exception of Greece, the Common Market countries agreed to a statement expressing “a common sense of outrage” over Syria’s role in the plot to bomb the Israeli jetliner and refusing diplomatic accreditation to Syrian diplomats expelled by Britain.

Chance for Unanimity

“It was not a failure, but a disappointment,” Howe said. “I think we have reasonable grounds for confidence that when we have further consideration by foreign ministers, there is a greater chance for unanimity.”

Foreign Office officials recalled that it took two meetings of European foreign ministers to agree on sanctions against Libya after the U.S. raid on Tripoli and Benghazi last April. On that occasion, the European Communities eventually agreed on a package that included an arms embargo, a tightening on visas and restrictions on the Libyan national airline.

Because of Syria’s prominent role in the Mideast peace process, many analysts tend to agree that sanctions would be politically more difficult to implement against Syria than they were against Libya, a small country on the periphery of the region’s pivotal issues.