DOHA: Foreign ministers of the “Friends of Syria” group will meet in the Qatari capital Doha on Saturday to discuss how to organise the delivery of military and other kinds of aid for Syrian rebels.
Besides US Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary William Hague, top diplomats from Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey will take part in Doha talks.
“There is no change in the UK policy towards Syria and on the much debated question of providing lethal aid of any kind to the opposition,” Hague told reporters on Saturday. “We have taken no decision to do that.”
Hague further said it is up to the UK parliament to take such a decision, adding that his country would focus on delivering more humanitarian aid and promoting a political solution. “At the end there is only a political solution to this conflict,” he said.
The meeting came as the US said that it would provide the foreign-backed militants with “direct military aid.”
On Friday, the militants announced that they had received new weapons that could lead to “changes” in war against the Syrian government.
Unrest has gripped Syria since March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of Syrian security forces, have been killed in the unrest.
The Syrian government maintains that the chaos in the country is being orchestrated from outside and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.