Britain will provide a further £500,000 to support Syria's political opposition in the face of president Bashar Assad's regime, the Foreign Secretary said. William Hague announced the extra funding during his annual speech at the Lord Mayor's Easter Banquet. Mr Hague said the money would help "hard-pressed" opposition groups to document the regime's violations. In his speech, he set out that he has "agreed to provide a further half a million pounds of British support to Syria's political opposition". "It includes agreement in principle for practical non-lethal support to them inside Syria," Mr Hague said. "It will help hard-pressed opposition groups and brave civil society organisations inside and outside the country to document the regime's violations and gain the skills and resources they need to help build a democratic future for Syria." The Government has, over the last eight months, given £450,000 of practical support to the Syrian opposition, including media skills … [Read more...] about £500,000 pledge to Syria opposition
Syria
£9m more aid for Syria victims
Britain is to devote another £9 million of aid to helping the estimated 1.5 million people caught up in the violence in Syria, the Government has announced. International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said the money - which more than doubles UK assistance so far - was needed to ease a "desperate situation". It will help provide six months' emergency food for 82,000 people, shelter for more than 9,000 families in Syria and drugs for 1,000 patients with chronic diseases. Health, water and sanitation services will also be funded for 4,000 of the refugees who have fled over Syria's borders to escape the fighting as well as security for UN humanitarian operations. Mr Mitchell said: "Ordinary Syrians are increasingly caught up in a desperate situation. Increased levels of violence mean that humanitarian agencies still cannot make a clear assessment of need within the country. "But the situation on the ground is deteriorating, with large numbers of displaced people both within … [Read more...] about £9m more aid for Syria victims
120 dead after unrest in Syria
Syrian security forces have fired on funeral processions that drew tens of thousands of people on Saturday, one day after the bloodiest crackdown so far in the uprising against president Bashar Assad. The shootings pushed the two-day death toll to more than 120 and two politicians and a religious leader resigned in disgust over the killings. The resignations were a possible sign of cracks developing in the regime's base in a nation where nearly all opposition figures have been either jailed or exiled during the 40-year dynasty of the Assad family. "I cannot tolerate the blood of our innocent sons and children being shed," Sheikh Rizq Abdul-Rahim Abazeid said after stepping down from his post as the mufti of the Daraa region in southern Syria. The politicians, Nasser Hariri and Khalil Rifai, also are from Daraa, which has become the epicentre of the protest movement after a group of teenagers were arrested there for scrawling anti-regime graffiti on a wall in mid-March. Since then, the … [Read more...] about 120 dead after unrest in Syria
’20 killed’ in Syria border clashes
Israeli troops have battled hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters who tried to burst across Syria's frontier with the Golan Heights, killing a reported 20 people and wounding scores more in the second outbreak of deadly violence in the border area in less than a month. The clashes, marking the anniversary of the Arab defeat in the 1967 Middle East war, drew Israeli accusations that Syria was orchestrating the violence to shift attention away from a bloody crackdown on opposition protests at home. The marchers, who had organised themselves on Facebook, passed by Syrian and UN outposts on their way to the front lines. "The Syrian government is trying to created a provocation," said Israel's chief military spokesman, Brig Gen Yoav Mordechai. "This border has been quiet for decades, but only now with all the unrest in Syrian towns is there an attempt to draw attention to the border." Human rights groups say President Bashar Assad's forces killed at least 25 people in northern Syria over … [Read more...] about ’20 killed’ in Syria border clashes
£5m UK backing for Syria opposition
Britain will expand its support to the Syrian political opposition fighting President Bashar Assad with an extra £5 million of non-lethal practical assistance, Foreign Secretary William Hague has said. Mr Hague said the financial assistance would help protect civilians from "some of the worst of the violence". He said: "So now in the absence of diplomatic progress, the United Kingdom will do much more. We will expand our support to the Syrian people and the Syrian political opposition with an extra £5 million in non-lethal practical assistance. "This will help protect unarmed opposition groups, human rights activists and civilians from some of the worst of the violence. This is in addition to, and separate from, our humanitarian assistance." Speaking at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mr Hague said: "We expect that our assistance will include trauma and medical supplies for civilians in areas under regime control and could include items such as paramedic trauma kits, … [Read more...] about £5m UK backing for Syria opposition