11 nations syrian rebels

11 nations syrian rebels,  The Syrian opposition’s major international backers agreed in Doha on Saturday to provide “urgently all the necessary materiel and equipment” to rebels fighting the government of President Bashar Assad.

The agreement did not specify what kind of weapons would be sent or which supporters would provide what. But officials attending the conference said that Saudi Arabia and Qatar are prepared to quickly supply shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles and armor-piercing shells to be used against Assad’s air force and tanks.

Despite offering a series of pledges of coordination and increased aid in recent months, the rebels’ backers have been divided and inconsistent in acting on them. But officials insisted the new pledge was firm and specific in terms of quality and quantity.

“Something different happened today,” Secretary of State John Kerry said after a four-hour meeting of foreign ministers from 11 Western and Mideast governments.

Because of Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons and the large-scale intervention of Hezbollah and Iranian militia fighters in Syria’s civil war, he said, “we have decided that we have no choice … but to provide greater assistance.”

Although the rebels have been receiving arms from Persian Gulf nations, reportedly including a recent influx of surface-to-air missiles from Libya via Qatar, officials said the Doha decision will ensure a continuous, coordinated flow and procedures to ensure the weapons will be kept from Islamic militants.

A European official described Saturday’s decision as a “collective answer” to desperate appeals from Gen. Salim Idriss, head of the opposition’s Supreme Military Council, after recent rebel defeats.

The session was the fourth time the 11 nations that make up the Friends of Syria group — the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — have gathered this year. But since the last meeting, barely a month ago in Amman, Jordan, the situation on the ground has turned sharply against the rebels.

Agreement was not unanimous in the Saturday meeting, and officials said Germany led a small minority opposed to the provision of arms to the rebels on the grounds that it would intensify Syria’s humanitarian crisis and promote, rather than restrain, sectarian war between Sunnis and Shiites in the Middle East.

The region’s Sunni powers back the largely Sunni opposition, while Iran and Hezbollah, who support Assad, are Shiite, as is Assad’s minority Alawite sect.

“It’s not in the talking about it; it’s in the doing,” Kerry said at a news conference. “Not anything we say today” will change the situation on the ground. “It’s what happens in the days and months ahead. I hope not too many months. What happened here today is different, because the situation on the ground is different.”

Kerry said he would not go into specifics about which country would provide what equipment and that each nation would make its own decisions.

11 nations syrian rebels 2013-06-23T01:54:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: My Videos Tube