US pledges US$60m more to aid Syrian opposition
Source: Agencies |
March 1, 2013, Friday
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THE Obama administration is to provide the Syrian opposition with an additional US$60 million in assistance, it said yesterday, and - in a significant policy shift - will for the first time provide nonlethal aid such as food and medical supplies directly to rebels battling to oust President Bashar Assad.
The move was announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry at an international conference on Syria in Rome, and several European nations are expected in the coming days to take similar steps in working with the military wing of the opposition in order to ramp up pressure on Assad to step down and pave the way for a democratic transition.
"We do this because we need to stand on the side of those in this fight who want to see Syria rise again and see democracy and human rights," Kerry said. "The stakes are really high, and we can't risk letting this country in the heart of the Middle East be destroyed by vicious autocrats or hijacked by the extremists.
"No nation, no people should live in fear of their so-called leaders," he said.
Kerry and senior officials from 11 countries most active in calling for Assad to leave said in a joint statement that they had agreed on "the need to change the balance of power on the ground." It said the countries represented "will coordinate their efforts closely so as to best empower the Syrian people and support the Supreme Military Command of the Free Syrian Army in its efforts to help them exercise self-defense."
Britain and France have signaled that they want to begin supplying the rebels with defensive military equipment such as combat body armor, armored vehicles, night vision goggles and training.
"We must go above and beyond the efforts we are making now," said Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, who hosted the conference. "We can no longer allow this massacre to continue."
The move was announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry at an international conference on Syria in Rome, and several European nations are expected in the coming days to take similar steps in working with the military wing of the opposition in order to ramp up pressure on Assad to step down and pave the way for a democratic transition.
"We do this because we need to stand on the side of those in this fight who want to see Syria rise again and see democracy and human rights," Kerry said. "The stakes are really high, and we can't risk letting this country in the heart of the Middle East be destroyed by vicious autocrats or hijacked by the extremists.
"No nation, no people should live in fear of their so-called leaders," he said.
Kerry and senior officials from 11 countries most active in calling for Assad to leave said in a joint statement that they had agreed on "the need to change the balance of power on the ground." It said the countries represented "will coordinate their efforts closely so as to best empower the Syrian people and support the Supreme Military Command of the Free Syrian Army in its efforts to help them exercise self-defense."
Britain and France have signaled that they want to begin supplying the rebels with defensive military equipment such as combat body armor, armored vehicles, night vision goggles and training.
"We must go above and beyond the efforts we are making now," said Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, who hosted the conference. "We can no longer allow this massacre to continue."
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