U.S. pledges $12M to Syria's rebels

(AP) ISTANBUL - A coalition of more than 70 partners, including the United States, pledged Sunday to send millions of dollars and communications equipment to Syria's opposition groups, signaling deeper involvement in the conflict amid a growing belief that diplomacy and sanctions alone cannot end the Damascus regime's repression.

The shift by the U.S. and its Western and Arab allies toward seeking to sway the military balance in Syria carries regional risks because the crisis there increasingly resembles a proxy conflict that could exacerbate sectarian tensions. The Syrian rebels are overmatched by heavily armed regime forces.

The summit meeting of the "Friends of the Syrian People" follows a year of failed diplomacy that seems close to running its course with a troubled peace plan led by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

Indeed, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other participants at the conference in Istanbul uniformly expressed concern that Annan's plan might backfire, speculating that Syrian President Bashar Assad would try to manipulate it to prolong his hold on power.

Clinton said she was waiting for Annan's report to the U.N. Security Council on Monday on the status of his peace plan.

"There cannot be process for the sake of process. There has to be a timeline. If Assad continues as he has, to fail to end the violence, to institute a cease-fire, to withdraw his troops from the areas he has been battering ... then it's unlikely he is going to ever agree," she said. "Because it is a clear signal that he wants to wait to see if he has totally suppressed the opposition. I think he would be mistaken to believe that. My reading is that the opposition is gaining in intensity, not losing."

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Clinton said the United States is providing communications equipment to help anti-government activists in Syria organize, remain in contact with the outside world and evade regime attacks.

The Syrian regime agreed last week to Annan's plan, which calls for an immediate cease-fire, humanitarian access to besieged civilians and a political negotiation process led by Syrians. Since then, there have been daily reports of violence, including shelling Sunday in the central city of Homs that activists said killed more than two dozen people.

The uprising began in March 2011 as part of the Arab Spring with peaceful protests calling for political reforms. Assad's regime sent tanks, snipers and thugs to try to quash the revolt, and many in the opposition have taken up arms to defend themselves and attack government troops. The United Nations says more than 9,000 have died.

Conference participants in Istanbul said Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are creating a fund to pay members of the rebel Free Syrian Army and soldiers who defect from the regime and join opposition ranks. One delegate described the fund as a "pot of gold" to undermine Assad's army.

Participants confirmed the Gulf plan on condition of anonymity because details were still being worked out. One said the fund would involve several million dollars a month. It is said to be earmarked for salaries, but it was not clear whether there would be any effort to prevent the diversion of money to weapons purchases, a sensitive issue that could prompt stronger accusations of military meddling by foreign powers.

The delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria's beleaguered civilians is a key provision of Annan's plan. Clinton announced $12 million in additional aid for Syria's people — doubling the total U.S. assistance so far.

The Saudis and other Arab Gulf states have proposed giving weapons to the rebels, while the U.S. and other allies have balked out of fear of fueling an all-out civil war. Washington hasn't taken any public position on the fund, but it appears that it has given tacit support to its Arab allies.

Mohammed al-Said, a Syrian activist in the town of Duma, northwest of Damascus, said salaries might encourage further defections, but that only arms would turn the tide against Assad.

"What is clear to us is that only fighting can make this regime leave," he said via Skype, adding the opposition wanted arms more than military intervention so they could topple Assad themselves.

Fayez Amru, a rebel who recently defected from the military and is now based in Turkey, welcomed the decision as a "humanitarian step in the right direction" but also said weapons were needed.

"We feel let down by the international community. I don't know why there is hesitation by the West ... maybe this will help at least keep the rebels on their feet," Amru said.

In Damascus, Syria blasted the conference, calling it part of an international conspiracy to kill Syrians and weaken the country. A front-page editorial in the official Al-Baath newspaper said the meeting was a "regional and international scramble to search for ways to kill more Syrians, sabotage their society and state, and move toward the broad objective of weakening Syria."

Russia and China have twice protected the Assad regime from censure by the U.N. Security Council, fearing such a step could lead to foreign military intervention. Syria's international opponents have no plans to launch a military operation similar to the Libya bombing campaign that ousted Moammar Gadhafi, especially without U.N. support, but they are slowly overcoming doubts about assisting scattered rebel forces.

The debate over arming or funding the rebels is being driven partly by the sectarian split in the region. The upheaval in Syria presents an opportunity for the Sunni Muslim states in the Gulf to bolster their influence, consolidate power and possibly leave regional rival Iran, led by a Shiite theocracy, without critical alliances that flow through Damascus.

Assad's regime, which counts Iran among its few allies, is led by the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiism.

Last year, Saudi Arabia sent tanks to help fellow Sunni leaders in Bahrain crush a largely Shiite rebellion there, indicating that sectarian interests sometimes trump calls for democratic change in the Middle East.

Turkey hosts 20,000 Syrian refugees, including hundreds of army defectors, and has floated the idea of setting up a buffer zone inside Syria if the flow of displaced people across its border becomes overwhelming. Parts of the southern Turkish region near Syria are informal logistics bases for rebels, who collect food and other supplies in Turkey and deliver them to comrades on smuggling routes.

Delegates to the Istanbul meeting talked of tighter sanctions and increased diplomatic pressure on Assad, and Syrian opposition representatives promised to offer a democratic alternative to his regime. Yet the show of solidarity at the conference was marred by the absence of China, Russia and Iran.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said military options might have to be considered if Syria does not cooperate with Annan's plan and the U.N. Security Council does not unite against Assad.

"If the U.N. Security Council fails once again to bring about its historic responsibility, there will be no other choice than to support the Syrian people's right to self-defense," Erdogan said.

Burhan Ghalioun, leader of the opposition Syrian National Council, called for the strengthening of Syrian rebel forces as well as "security corridors" in Syria, a reference to internationally protected zones on Syrian territory that would allow the delivery of aid to civilians. However, the nations meeting in Istanbul failed to agree on such an intervention, which could involve the deployment of foreign security forces.

"No one should allow this regime to feel at ease or to feel stronger by giving them a longer maneuvering area," he said, reflecting fears that Assad would try to use the Annan plan to prolong his tenure. "It's enough that the international community has flirted with the regime in Syria. Something has to change."

The Syrian National Council said weapons supplies to the opposition were not "our preferred option" because of the risk they could escalate the killing of civilians, but it appealed for technical equipment to help rebels coordinate.

"For these supplies to be sent, neighboring countries need to allow for the transfer via their sea ports and across borders," the council said.

The one-day meeting followed an inaugural forum in Tunisia in February. Since then, Syrian opposition figures have tried to convince international sponsors that they can overcome their differences and shape the future of a country whose autocratic regime has long denied the free exchange of ideas.

In Istanbul, police used tear gas and batons to disperse a group of about 40 Assad supporters who tried to approach the conference building. Many held portraits of the Syrian leader. One man waved Chinese and Russian flags.

[mathman2]

We are giving 12 million to the rebels so that they can establish an Islamic Fundamentalist State and commit genocide against the remaining Christian population in Syria and Lebanon and then start a war with Israel. That is the ambition of Obama and Hillary, to wipe out those two religious groups, Christians and Jews, and establish an Islamic califate.

[wattermelann]

Why isn't the US pledging 12 million to Tibet?

[habusteve]

China will give us the money!!They are our friend!

[Nikos_Retsos]

Bashar Assad won't give up power, and he must be ousted by force. But the U.S. would make a grave mistake if it tries to put CIA puppets into the top positions in a post-Assad Syria -like it did with Mahmud Jibril and Khalifa Hiftar in Libya after the fall of the Muammar Gadhafi. The Arabs are neither stupid nor suckers to stand for that, and it will only cause a prolong type of widespread bombings and instability in Syria like it did in Iraq.

The Chicago Tribune reported 2 days ago that Mosul in Northern Iraq is controlled by Sunnis affiliated with Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has already ordered his agents and fighters to join the Syrian Spring and help to oust Assad, and a U.S. puppet regime in Damascus won't accepted by the Syrians, period! The wise thing to do is help the Syrians kick Assad out, and then stand on the side and let the Syrians elect their own leaders without flooding pro-Western puppets in Syria with $ U.S. or Saudi millions to buy out the Syrian elections. If we do, or if we allow the Saudis to do, we will open a Pandora's Box that we will come to regret!

Let's help Syrians select their leaders without interference, and they will become out friends because they will appreciate our no-strings-attached help to bury the Assad dynasty! That is what the Syrians want and need now - not another Ben Ali, Mubarak, or Abdullah Saleh. Nikos Retsos, retired professor

[notyrants]

Is this so they don't cheat on the U.S. and take bribes from Russia? What a f'd up world. No money for anything domestic but lots to blow on in places where many would just as soon cut all of our heads off.

[cbsnews_viewer]

More war, more blood. Anyone remember how Lebanon turned out in the 1980s when it was unstable? Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are pushing war. They are paying for it by proxy. Obama/Clinton are doubling down for a Shia government in Syria. What do they claim to know that others do not. Israel is a neighbor, they have to have a voice in what is going on in this thing, somehow. Right? Somebody is shuffling the cards.

[badforu]

After Obamas open mic slip its pretty clear that they are not idiots doing this, but doing it by design. Our use to be friends are now not so good with us and our enemys are becoming our benifactors.
When has it ever been right to engage in destablizing a Sovern Goverment? If, lets say russia for this example, russia backed a group bent on overthrowing the goverment, would that ever be allowed or not seen as an act of war? How is this different?
How did Obama get away with the Libya attack? That was incredible. To fire 120 cruise missles without congress backing cant be just wiped away with, opps i didnt know i needed congress ok. To have 100 or so targets already lined up and the stradegy in place. Thats not a fly by the moment action.

[Freedomisgood]

I can honestly say I have never heard of so much crap in my life! Why are we supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda again, is it 3 times is a charm? Egypt, Libya, and now Syria, I hope the rest of the world knows this is not the will of the American people! But on the other hand, we keep electing these bozo's! Ron Paul 2012, if not Ron Paul the only thing we will get is more wars, and more of the same!

[sgfan1212]

So now, Obama and Hillary are trying to destroy Syria just as they did Egypt and Libya. They will replace a dictator they don't like with one who will be more radical and hostile to Israel, thus creating chaos in the region and threatening the very existance of Israel. American Jews, do you really think Obama is your friend?

[USA4all]

Are you kidding me? AIPAC is leading the charge.

[USA4all]

What the hell? Who are the Syrian rebels? What a bunch of crap. The State department got all the funding from the troop pull out from Iraq and have only redoubled their efforts to destabilize Syria a country that has a growing economy is debt free and currently prints its own money. Hilary is an evil force in the world just as she tried to pervert Russian elections while all the while running destabilization efforts in Syria. Wake up America these people are not patriots or Americans they are immoral amoral jerks that have the power of the USA at their disposal. Our military is not to be used and abused in these unjust actions nor should our military be used to murder Arabs that want to maintain their sovereignty. The Iraqi and Libyan currencies were stolen and are now printed in London--this is what they do. Hopefully soon our military refuses these leaders and turns towards these Domestic enemies like Hilary and AIPAC that lead us into horrible altercations and entanglements all the while war profiteering from the entire action. America your media is not free they are all owned by common sources that control the message---open your minds!