U.S. Vows $60mn to Syria Opposition, 'Non-Lethal' Help to Rebels

The United States said on Thursday it would for the first time provide direct aid to Syrian rebels, but not the arms they had hoped for, as well as $60 million in extra assistance to the political opposition.

After talks with European and Arab partners and the opposition National Coalition in Rome, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would provide aid to fighters in the form of food and medical assistance.

The move was a significant shift in U.S. policy but fell short of rebel demands for Western backers to supply the rebellion with weapons or non-offensive military equipment, such as vehicles and body armor.

Coalition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, who stood beside Kerry as he made the announcement, expressed disappointment, suggesting the West was overly focused on the presence of Islamists among rebels.

He also complained about weapons continuing to reach the regime of President Bashar Assad.

Kerry said that, "for more than a year, the United States and our partners have called on Assad to heed the voice of the Syrian people and to halt his war machine. Instead, what we have seen is his brutality increase."

The goal was to give the opposition the means to control areas it has seized from the regime, to prove to Assad he can't "shoot his way out" of the conflict.

"Working together, we've already been able to do a lot... but today, President Obama has encouraged all of us to embrace the notion that we need to do more."

Kerry said the $60 million would strengthen the Coalition's organizational capacity, and help war-torn communities with respect to sanitation, food delivery, public order, education and medical care.

"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.

In supporting the Coalition and the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), "we reject both of those choices, and we stand with those Syrians fighting for the right to choose dignity and democracy and justice. That's our battle."

A State Department official said the new money was in addition to $50 million in non-lethal support Washington has already provided to help Syrian opposition activists, including communications equipment.

That aid was provided through Turkey, while the United States has also contributed some $380 million dollars in humanitarian aid through U.N. agencies and aid groups.

Asked about congressional approval of the funding, Kerry told journalists he was "very confident for rapid delivery".

For his part, Khatib complained that "a lot people, particularly the media, pay more attention to the length of fighters' beards (an allusion to jihadists in Syria) than to the shedding of children's blood and regime bombardments.

"Indications are that there has been an international decision not to arm the Syria resistance with high-caliber weapons. If that is what you want, then stop providing the regime with these types of weapons, which continue to arrive under the pretext of honoring existing contracts."

A Western diplomat who took part told Agence France Presse the opposition had seen the announcement of new U.S. money as a step forward.

"Khatib felt an evolution. It maybe wasn't what he wanted, but it was a useful step," said the diplomat, noting that it was the first time Washington had named Syria's Supreme Military Council, the rebel military command, as a "partner."

Soon after Kerry's announcement, the Coalition indefinitely postponed a meeting that was to have been held in Istanbul on Saturday to elect a premier and government for "liberated areas" of Syria.

Coalition member Samir Nashar told AFP said he could not say why, and did not exclude its cancellation.

However, he pointed to "U.S.-Russian efforts to start a dialogue between the Syrian regime and the Coalition that would result in a transitional government and thus be at odds with an interim (opposition) government."

Pressure has been building for talks to end the conflict. Russia, Assad's most powerful supporter, called this week for both sides to sit down for negotiations.