ROME — Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Thursday announced the first direct U.S. aid to Syrian opposition fighters, but the more than $60 million package will not include the arms or high-tech gear the rebels have long coveted.
ROME — Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Thursday announced the first direct U.S. aid to Syrian opposition fighters, but the more than $60 million package will not include the arms or high-tech gear the rebels have long coveted.
Kerry, on his first trip abroad as chief U.S. diplomat, said the United States would supply food rations and medical supplies to the military wing of the opposition and $60 million to its political arm to help provide basic government services in the areas controlled by forces opposed to President Bashar Assad.
Appearing at an international conference on Syria, Kerry called the new aid a “significant stepping up” of assistance by the United States and promised that, combined with aid from other countries, it would help change Assad’s belief that he can remain in power. As many as 70,000 people have died during the nearly two-year war, according to the United Nations.
Assad “long ago lost his legitimacy … and must be out of power,” Kerry said.
The Obama administration has been reluctant to supply arms to Syrian opposition forces because of concerns that the weapons could end up in the hands of militant Islamist groups.
But Syrian opposition leaders immediately expressed disappointment that Kerry did not move further toward the direct provision of weapons and other military aid to rebel forces.
Saleh Mubarak, with the opposition Syrian National Council, told Al-Jazeera English after Kerry’s comments that the U.S. package was “good but not good enough.”
Kerry has raised expectations for a sharply expanded U.S. role in recent days, saying repeatedly that the United States and allies would be stepping up aid to convince Assad that he must begin negotiating with the opposition. Some U.S. officials have said the administration was considering providing at least nonlethal gear that is valuable on the front lines, such as body armor and armored vehicles.
But U.S. officials said that a long debate over the scope of the U.S. role has continued in recent days, and that the White House, while willing to expand aid, favors a cautious path.
A number of senior officials, including former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, pressed for the administration to begin providing arms to the rebels. But the idea was rejected by the White House.
The U.S. has previously given $54 million in aid to the political opposition and $385 million in humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees.
Kerry, pressed about the modesty of the new package, said allies were making other contributions. He suggested that U.S. aid would continue to expand, and said the administration planned to press Congress for more money.
“We are doing this, but others are doing other things,” he said.
It is also possible, analysts say, the United States is funding covert efforts to train or arm the rebels. U.S. officials declined Thursday to discuss reports of such secret activities.