Barack Obama's personal pledge to aid Syria rebels
Barack Obama has made his most explicit show of support yet for Syria's rebels with a personal pledge to provide "non-lethal" aid to opposition fighters seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
Photo: Reuters
6:31PM BST 25 Mar 2012
The president's endorsement on Sunday of a US proposal to ferry medical aid and communications equipment to the faltering rebel movement came amid signs that Turkish plans to impose a buffer zone within Syrian territory were gaining traction.
US officials said that the delivery of aid to rebel militias would dominate the agenda when the "Friends of Syria", a coalition of Western and Arab powers opposed to Mr Assad, meet in Istanbul next Sunday.
Despite evidence that their foreign backers are drifting towards greater involvement in the yearlong conflict, Syria's rebels would have been hoping for more substantial succour.
Their disappointment was compounded after Nabil Elaraby, the secretary general of the Arab League, disclosed that there were no plans to discuss a proposal to arm the rebels at the meeting in Istanbul.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia have both voiced approval for such a move but have won little support from other Arab states or the West amid concern over divisions within the Syrian opposition and the make-up of some of Free Syrian Army's loosely affiliated militias.
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