Syria

Syria opposition leaders call for US arms

Syria opposition leaders call for US arms

The leaders of Syria’s foreign-backed opposition have reiterated their appeals for Washington’s further support for their fight against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

A senior US State Department official, not named in the report, said that during a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the G8 summit on Wednesday in London, Syria’s opposition leaders once again called on the US to supply them with weaponry, AFP reported.

“We are always considering a variety of options, we are going to continue to aid the opposition, working with them in terms of what they need, in terms of what we’re willing to provide,” the US official said.

Kerry has said that the US administration is looking at possible ways to increase its help to the militants in Syria.

According to official sources, he is also set to take part in an upcoming meeting of the so-called Friends of Syria group in the Turkish city of Istanbul on April 20.

Washington has publicly claimed that it only offers “nonlethal” aid to the gangs trying to overthrow the Syrian government.

However, media reports have indicated that the US trains anti-Damascus militant gangs and also coordinates arms shipments to foreign-backed militants in the crisis-hit country.

The Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List in a March report claimed that 3,000 tons of weapons, paid for by Saudi Arabia as requested by the US, have been airlifted from Zagreb airport in 75 planeloads to the militants through Jordan since November 2012.

The New York Times also said in a recent report that the CIA had played a major role in locating weapons sources and coordinating huge arms shipments to the militants in Syria through the governments of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan.

In another March report, the German weekly, Der Spiegel said that US troops deployed to the Jordanian border were training the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) militants, who fight against Assad government.

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