a href="/myfiles/Images/2013/06/23/kerry_big.jpg" title="US Secretary of State John Kerry (R) speaks during the London 11 countries "Friends of Syria" meeting in Doha on Saturday. – Reuters" US Secretary of State John Kerry (R) speaks during the London 11 countries "Friends of Syria" meeting in Doha on Saturday. – Reuters DOHA – Western and Arab opponents of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad agreed on Saturday to give urgent military support to Western-backed rebels, aiming to stem a counter-offensive by Assad's forces and offset the growing power of extremist fighters. Assad's recapture of the strategic border town of Qusayr, spearheaded by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, and an expected assault on the divided northern city of Aleppo have alarmed supporters of the Syrian opposition. Ministers from the 11 core members of the Friends of Syria group agreed “to provide urgently all the necessary materiel and equipment to the opposition on the ground”, according to a statement released at the end of their meeting in Qatar. The statement did not commit all the countries to send weapons, but said each country could provide assistance “in its own way, in order to enable (the rebels) to counter brutal attacks by the regime and its allies”. The aid should be channelled through the Western-backed Supreme Military Council, a move that Washington and its European allies hope will prevent weapons falling into the hands of militants including the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. The ministers also condemned “the intervention of Hezbollah militias and fighters from Iran and Iraq”, demanding that they withdraw immediately. Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Al-Thani of Qatar, which along with Saudi Arabia has been one of the most open Arab backers of the anti-Assad rebels, said that supplying them with weapons was the only way to resolve the conflict. “Force is necessary to achieve justice. And the provision of weapons is the only way to achieve peace in Syria's case,” Sheikh Hamad told ministers at the start of the talks. “We cannot wait due to disagreement among (UN) Security Council members over finding a solution to the problem,” he said. The meeting in Qatar brought together ministers and senior officials of countries that support the anti-Assad rebels – France, Germany, Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Britain and the United States – although the fractured Syrian opposition itself was notably absent. The final statement expressed concern at Syria's worsening humanitarian crisis, which prompted the United Nations to launch a $5 billion appeal earlier this month – its biggest ever. Speaking before the start of talks, British Foreign Secretary William Hague reiterated that London had yet to take a decision on arming the rebels, but said that only by strengthening the opposition could the West hope to bring about talks for a political settlement. – Reuters
