LONDON, May 14 (RIA Novosti) - Britain will allocate a total of 40 million British pounds ($61.2 million) in humanitarian and non-lethal aid to Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, British prime minister’s office said in a statement.
British Prime Minister Cameron met with US President Obama on Monday discussing the Syrian conflict following his last week’s talks on the same issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“During a joint press conference with US President Barack Obama today, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the UK would be providing an extra £30 million [$45.9 million] of humanitarian support for the victims of the Syria crisis, and an additional £10 million [$15.3 million] in non-lethal support to strengthen the Syrian opposition, to help reduce the effects of the conflict spilling over into neighboring countries and to support human rights and civil society,” the statement said.
Two months ago, Syrian leader Assad said in an interview with Sunday Times that Britain played an “unconstructive role” in the region and accused the country of supplying Syrian militants with weapons.
Diplomatic discussions on the Syrian conflict is set to continue this week, with Putin due to hold talks in Russia with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Kerry and Lavrov expected to meet on the sidelines of the Arctic Council meeting in Sweden, which gets under way Tuesday.
Syria has been locked in an increasingly bloody civil war since demonstrations broke out against President Assad in March 2011. According to UN estimates, over 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
