US urged to arm Syrian rebels quickly
UNITED NATIONS—The leader of Syria’s Western-backed opposition group told US Secretary John Kerry on Thursday that the United States must quickly supply rebels with promised weapons to prevent a military victory by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Ahmad Al-Jarba, in a statement sent out while he was still meeting with Kerry at the US Mission to the United Nations, called the situation in Syria “desperate” and said the opposition urgently needs American action “to push the international community to demand a political transition.”
The newly elected head of the Syrian National Coalition accused the Assad regime of using indiscriminate weapons ranging from chemical weapons to cluster bombs and said opposition fighters must have weapons to defend themselves and protect civilians.
The Obama administration decided in June to begin arming Syrian rebels groups after the United States said it had conclusive evidence that Assad’s regime used chemical weapons against opposition forces. But the US has yet to send any weapons amid concerns they could end up in the hands of alQaida-backed groups and other extremists.
Syria’s rebels, however, have recently received shipments of more powerful weapons from Gulf allies, particularly antitank and antiaircraft missiles.
Kerry met with Al-Jarba in an effort to promote international efforts to convene a conference in Geneva to try to move forward with a transitional government based on a plan adopt- ed in that city a year ago.
Kerry stressed earlier Thursday that “there is no military solution” to the 2-1/2-year-old civil war.
“There is only a political solution, and that will require leadership in order to bring people to the table,” he said.
He stood beside UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who minutes earlier announced that the Syrian conflict has killed more than 100,000 people since 2011, up from the previous estimate of 93,000.
Kerry told reporters as he left the meeting with Al-Jarba that it was “very, very constructive.”
He said the opposition agreed to work over the next few weeks to pinpoint the conditions under which a new Geneva conference can work.
They believe Geneva “is very important, and we are going to work it out,” Kerry said.
Al-Jarba said he told Kerry “that the coalition fully understands American concerns about extremism and the possible diversion of military assistance.”
“We absolutely condemn all terrorism and all attempts to turn Syria into what it is not, a monotheistic or totalitarian state,” he said. “But we need American direct support to save democracy in Syria and to lead the world to force Assad at last to stand down.”
The coalition delegation is expected to meet informally on Friday with the UN Security Council.
While at the United Nations, Kerry tackled another of the world’s intractable conflicts, urging support for an agreement to stop nearly two decades of fighting in eastern Congo.
America’s chief diplomat presided over a Security Council meeting on Congo, trying to shine a spotlight on a corner of the world where horrors occur daily but are usually overshadowed by the turbulence in the Middle East.