US denies role in arming Syrian rebels

WASHINGTON: Obama administration denied media news report claiming that the US has been helping to coordinate shipment of ‘more and better weapons’ to the Syrian rebels, with Persian Gulf nations picking up the tab.

During a daily press briefing, US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland denied that Washington was playing any role in arming the rebels. "With regard to any assertions with regard to lethal (aid), we are not involved in that," she said.

"The United States has made a decision to provide nonlethal support to civilian members of the opposition. This is things like medical equipment. This is communications, things to help them, first of all, deal with the humanitarian aspects but also to help them to communicate better so that they can plan and be ready for the period of transition that we expect and want to see in Syria," she said.

So is Washington helping to coordinate arms shipments?

"We are obviously consulting with various states about the decisions that we've made, that they've made," Nuland said, declining repeated opportunities to explicitly criticise countries that have opted to help arm the opposition. "This is a loose coordination mechanism."

The US daily newspaper Washington Post had said in a report that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other gulf states were providing "millions of dollars in funding each month" to arm the opposition. (Monitoring Desk)