U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that the United States would double its non-lethal aid to opposition forces in Syria to $250 million and that foreign backers had agreed to channel all future assistance through the rebels' Supreme Military Council.

Kerry stopped short of a U.S. pledge to supply weapons to insurgents fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad that the rebels have sought.

But he said that the rebels' foreign backers were committed to continuing support to them and "there would have to be further announcements about the kind of support that that might be in the days ahead" if Syrian government forces failed to pursue a peaceful solution to the crisis.

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Speaking after a meeting of the Syrian opposition and its 11 main foreign supporters in Istanbul, Kerry said the United States would provide an additional $123 million in non-lethal assistance to the rebels, bringing the total of this kind of U.S. help to $250 million.

Kerry urged other foreign backers to make similar pledges of assistance with the goal of reaching $1 billion in total international support.

A U.S. official said on Friday that new non-lethal U.S. aid could include for the first time battlefield support equipment such as body armor and night-vision goggles. U.S. officials have said in the past that the equipment could include armored vehicles and advanced communications equipment, but Kerry gave no specifics.

He said the United States would work with the Syrian opposition to determine how the money would be spent and added that Washington would also provide nearly $25 million in additional food aid.

Kerry said the foreign supporters had "all committed that the aid and assistance from every country will go through the (rebel) Supreme Military Command."

"Today, it's safe to say that we are really at a critical moment," Kerry said. "The stakes in Syria couldn't be more clear: Chemical weapons, the slaughter of people by ballistic missiles and other weapons of huge destruction. The potential of a whole country, a beautiful country with great people, being torn apart and perhaps breaking up into enclaves (with the) potential of sectarian violence which this region knows there is too much of.

"What we are trying to do is to avoid all of that. And we committed to - we recommitted - because we think there are some people who don't believe that we believe it, or are in fact are committed to it," he said.

Kerry referred to a statement issued after the meeting by Syria's main opposition National Coalition in which it pledged not to use chemical weapons, rejected "all forms of terrorism" and vowed that weapons it attains would not fall into the wrong hands.

In its declaration outlining its vision of a post-Assad Syria and issued following the "Friends of Syria" meeting with Western and Arab backers, the coalition also said it would not allow acts of revenge against any group in Syria.

The latest U.S. expansion of non-lethal aid follows Kerry's announcement in Rome in late February that Washington would shift policy to provide medical supplies and food directly to opposition fighters, an option it had previously rejected.

Despite pressure from some members of Congress and recommendations even from among his own advisers, U.S. President Barack Obama has refused to supply arms to the rebels, reflecting concern that such weapons would fall into the hands of Islamist militants in the ranks of the fractious insurgency.

However, even the limited new steps under consideration suggest that the White House, amid difficult internal debate, is continuing to move slowly toward a more direct role in bolstering the Syrian opposition.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar are among Arab states believed to be arming rebel factions.

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North Korea issued new threats against South Korea on Tuesday, vowing "sledge-hammer blows" of retaliation if South Korea did not apologize for anti-North Korean protests the previous day when the North was celebrating the birth of its founding leader.

The North also rejected what it called "cunning" U.S. overtures for talks, saying it will not be humiliated into being dragged to sit at the negotiating table by Washington.

But a senior U.S. military official in South Korea said the North Korean leadership was looking for a way to cool down its rhetoric after weeks of warnings of war.

On Monday, the North dropped its shrill threats against the United States and South Korea as it celebrated the 101st anniversary of the birth of its first leader, Kim Il-Sung, raising hopes for an easing of tension in a region that has for weeks seemed on the verge of conflict.

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But the North's KCNA news agency said on Tuesday the North Korean army had issued an ultimatum to the South after rallies in the South on Monday at which portraits of North Korea's leaders were burned.

"Our retaliatory action will start without any notice from now," KCNA reported, citing military leaders of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), as North Korea is officially known.

The North's Foreign Ministry also rejected what it said was cunning U.S. scheming aimed at defusing tensions on the Korean peninsula with an offer of talks while deploying military assets capable of launching nuclear strikes against it.

"We do not oppose dialogue but we will not sit down at talks table in humiliation against opponents who are swinging the nuclear club against us," an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesman said in comments carried by the KCNA news agency.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in Seoul last week that Washington was open to dialogue with Pyongyang on the condition that the talks would lead to eliminating nuclear arsenal from the North.

South Korean media reported several small demonstrations in the capital, Seoul, on Monday. One television station showed pictures of a handful of protesters burning a portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Small counter-protests, by South Koreans calling for dialogue with the North, were also held, media reported.

The North has threatened nuclear attacks on the United States, South Korea and Japan after new U.N. sanctions were imposed in response to its latest nuclear arms test in February.

The North has also been angry about annual military exercises between U.S. and South Korean forces, describing them as a "hostile" act. The United States dispatched B52 and B2 stealth bombers from their bases to take part.

Offer of talks
But along with the new threat on Tuesday, the North's KCNA raised the possibility of dialogue.

"If the puppet authorities truly want dialogue and negotiations, they should apologize for all anti-DPRK hostile acts, big and small, and show the compatriots their will to stop all these acts," KCNA cited the North's military as saying.

A South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman later told a briefing the North Korean ultimatum was not worth a response and South Korea was waiting for the North to make a "wise decision".

Last week, the South's President Park Geun-hye offered talks but the North rejected the overture as a "cunning" ploy.

Park will meet U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on May 7 to discuss economic and security issues, including "countering the North Korean threat", the White House said on Monday.

The U.S. military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a North Korean missile test or nuclear test were possible but he believed it was trying to tone down its the war of words.

"The DPRK leadership is trying to figure out a way to off-ramp from the heightened state of rhetoric that we've been seeing for the past several weeks," the official told reporters.

North Korea faced difficulties trying to "fix and tune up" its Soviet-era conventional weapons, and that was why it wanted nuclear weapons, and the missiles to deliver them.

"They are replacing that decreasing conventional capability with increasing asymmetric capability of weapons of mass destruction, intercontinental ballistic missiles and special operations forces," the official said.

The United States has offered talks with the North, but on the pre-condition that it abandons its nuclear weapons ambitions. North Korea deems its nuclear arms a "treasured sword" and has vowed never to give them up.

However, U.S. Secretary of State Kerry, ending his visit to Korea, appeared to open the door to talking without requiring the North to take denuclearization steps in advance. Beijing, he said, could be an intermediary.

North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests but it was not believed to be near weapons capability.

Missile launches and nuclear tests by North Korea are both banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions that were expanded after the North's February test.

The aim of the North's aggression, analysts say, is to bolster the leadership of Kim Jong Un, the 30-year-old grandson Kim Il-Sung, or to force the United States, which has 28,000 troops in South Korea, to open talks.

A U.S. Marine transport helicopter crashed in South Korea on Tuesday, near the border with North Korea, with 21 people on board during exercises with South Korean forces.

The U.S. military described the accident as a "hard landing" and said six people were in stable condition in hospital. South Korean media said the helicopter caught fire after all on board got out. The cause of the accident would be investigated, the U.S. military said.

 

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Secretary of State John Kerry and China’s top diplomat on Saturday reiterated the two countries’ commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner.

"China and the United States must together take steps in order to achieve the goal of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, and today we agreed to have further discussions, to bear down very quickly with great specificity on exactly how we will accomplish this goal," Kerry said Saturday before flying on to Japan, the last stop on his Asian tour.

China's top diplomat echoed the goal, but wasn't specific about how pressure might be applied on North Korea, which had been threatening the United States and its "puppet" South Korea almost daily in recent weeks.

"China is firmly committed to upholding peace and stability and advancing the denuclearization process on the peninsula," Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi said.

"We maintain that the issue should be handled and resolved peacefully through dialogue and consultation," he added.

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Visiting Beijing for the first time as secretary of state, Kerry tried to persuade China's President Xi Jinping to rein in North Korea, his country's ally, arguing that Pyongyang's erratic young leader, Kim Jong Un, is threatening the stability of the entire region.

Kerry declined to comment on what specifically China may do to push for a peaceful solution on North Korea, saying only that he and Chinese officials had discussed all possibilities.

On Sunday, Kerry arrived in Japan, which is in range of North Korea's medium-range missiles. He'll meet with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, Reuters noted, as North Korea prepares for its biggest holiday -- the birthday of founder Kim Il Sung on Monday. 

North Korea has prepped two medium-range Musudan-1 missiles waiting on its east coast, and analysts have said that it might fire one or both as a means for Kim Jong Un -- the founder's grandson -- to save face and appease his military after the weeks of saber-rattling.

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Analysis: China grows weary of North Korea

Full North Korea coverage from NBC News

South Korea's military said it will strike back at North Korea and target its top leadership if Pyongyang launches a threatened attack.

A top North Korea general, in a rare appearance on state television on Tuesday, threatened military action against the U.S. and South Korea because of military drills between the two western allies countries that began March 1.

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Tensions have ratcheted higher across the Korean peninsula since the North, under youthful leader Kim Jong Un who took office just over a year ago after the death of his father, launched a long-range rocket last December.

He followed this with a third nuclear test on February 12, triggering the prospect of more U.N. sanctions that are due to be formally announced on Thursday after the United States and China, the North's one major diplomatic ally, struck a deal to punish Pyongyang.

At the same time, North Korea has stepped up its military threats against South Korea and the United States, prompting the terse warning from Seoul on Wednesday that it would not stand idly by if its territory was attacked.

"We have all preparations in place for strong and decisive punishment, not only against the source of the aggression and its support forces but also the commanding element," Major General Kim Yong-hyun of the South Korean army told a press conference.

North Korea's bellicose rhetoric rarely goes beyond that, although in 2010 it sank a South Korean naval vessel, killing 46 sailors and in the same year shelled a South Korean island, killing civilians.

South Korea's new President Park Geun-hye had pledged to engage with the North if it dropped its nuclear plans but now faces the prospect of a hostile challenge early in her 5-year term.

The proposed fresh sanctions would explicitly ban the sale to Pyongyang of items coveted by North Korea's ruling elite, such as yachts and racing cars, a U.N. Security Council diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

In 2009, Italian authorities blocked the sale of two yachts worth more than $10 million that they believed were headed for Kim Jong Il, the current Kim's father, who enjoyed copious amounts of luxury brandy and fresh sushi in a country where a third of the population is malnourished.

The new sanctions will target North Korea's financial transactions, which often involve using cash couriers that make them hard to trace, and its criminal activities such as drugs and counterfeiting.

North Korea was slapped with sanctions in 2006 that banned the import of a range of luxury goods from jet skis to Harleys following its first nuclear test in a bid to hit the high-life of the Kim family and its hangers-on.

The impoverished country, whose economy is smaller than it was 20 years ago, has been subject to sanctions of some kind from the United States for almost all of its existence and since 2006 has seen U.N. sanctions imposed for its long range rocket and nuclear tests.

Despite the sanctions Pyongyang now has a nuclear stockpile sufficient for around half a dozen warheads, has made substantial progress in developing a long-range missile and is working towards miniaturizing a nuclear warhead for an intercontinental ballistic missile.

China has backed all rounds of sanctions and fell into line with the latest move in the Security Council, risking relations with its prickly ally.

About 200,000 Korean troops and 10,000 U.S. forces are expected to be mobilized for their "Foal Eagle" exercise, under the Combined Forces Command, which goes until the end of April. Separate computer-simulated drills called "Key Resolve" start on March 11.

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Huge military exercise highlights 'rebalancing of US policy toward Asia'

North Korea's propaganda poets stay true to their muse

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

RIYADH — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday there was "finite" time for talks between Iran and world powers on its disputed nuclear program to bear fruit, but gave no hint how long Washington may be willing to negotiate. 

Israel, Iran's arch-enemy and convinced Tehran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons, has grown impatient with the protracted talks and has threatened preemptive war against Tehran if it deems diplomacy ultimately futile.

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Kerry's sentiment was largely echoed by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, who said that the negotiations cannot be endless like the debates of philosophers over how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. 

"There is a finite amount of time," Kerry, in the Saudi capital Riyadh on his first overseas trip as the top U.S. diplomat, said of the talks between a group of six world powers and Tehran, Saudi Arabia's main regional adversary. 

Kerry was speaking at a news conference with Prince Saud al-Faisal, who suggested Iran was not showing enough seriousness about the discussions, which he said "cannot go on forever." 

Iran was positive last week after talks with the powers in Kazakhstan about its nuclear work ended with an agreement to meet again. But Western officials said it had yet to do anything concrete to allay their concerns about its nuclear aspirations. 

The United States, China, France, Russia, Britain and Germany offered modest relief from economic sanctions in return for Iran reining in its most sensitive nuclear activity but made clear that no breakthrough was in the offing quickly. 

"We can't be like the philosophers who keep talking about how many angels a pinhead can hold," Prince Saud al-Faisal said. "They (the Iranians) have not proved to anybody the urgency in their negotiation," he said. "They reach common understanding only on issues that require further negotiation. And so this is what (has) worried us." 

The United States and many of its allies suspect Iran may be using its civil nuclear program as a cover to develop atomic weapons, a possibility that Israel, which is regarded as the Middle East's only nuclear power, sees as a mortal threat. 

The possibility also deeply disturbs many Arab countries in the Gulf who, some analysts say, could choose to pursue their own nuclear programs if Iran were to acquire an atomic bomb, leading to a destabilizing arms race. 

In Vienna on Monday, the U.N. nuclear watchdog raised pressure on Iran to finally address suspicions that it has sought to design an atomic bomb, calling for swift inspector access to a military base where relevant explosives tests are believed to have been carried out.

Diplomacy 'first choice'
Iran says its program is solely for peaceful purposes, such as generating electricity and making medical isotopes. 

Kerry, in the final stages of a nine-nation, 11-day trip that will also take him to Abu Dhabi and Doha, also had lunch with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the possibility of reviving peace talks with Israel. 

Making his first trip abroad as secretary of state, Kerry also met Saudi Crown Prince Salman but a U.S. official said he would not see Saudi King Abdullah, who turns 90 this year. 

Kerry said a diplomatic solution on Iran is still preferred by the United States and Saudi Arabia. 

In 2008, Riyadh's ambassador to Washington said King Abdullah had repeatedly urged Washington to "cut off the head of the snake" by striking Iran's nuclear facilities, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks. 

"We both prefer — and this is important for Iranians to hear and understand  — we both prefer diplomacy as the first choice, the preferred choice," Kerry said. "But the window for a diplomatic solution simply cannot by definition remain open indefinitely." 

Echoing Western concerns about a possible nuclear arms race in the Middle East in the event that Iran obtained a nuclear bomb, Kerry made a series of arguments for Gulf Arab countries not to pursue a military nuclear capability. 

Riyadh has also announced plans to develop 17 gigawatts of atomic energy by 2032 as it moves to reduce domestic oil consumption, freeing up more crude for export. 

Related: 

Netanyahu says nuclear talks a chance for Iran to 'buy time' to build the bomb

Iran says building 3,000 advanced centrifuges

West wary, Iran upbeat after nuclear talks

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

CAIRO — The United States said on Sunday it would give Egypt $250 million in budget aid after Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi promised to take the painful economic reforms needed to secure an IMF loan.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the funding after meeting Mursi and acknowledged Egypt's "extreme needs" as the Islamist government struggles with a slide in currency reserves to worryingly low levels and a soaring budget deficit.

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Cairo says it wants to reopen talks with the International Monetary Fund on a $4.8 billion loan which was agreed in principle last November but suspended at Cairo's request due to violent street protests the following month.

"In light of Egypt's extreme needs and President Mursi's assurance that he plans to complete the IMF process, today I advised him the United States will now provide the first $190 million of our pledged $450 million in budget support funds," Kerry said in a statement at the end of a visit to Cairo.

The $190 million is part of a $1 billion pledge by U.S. President Barack Obama in 2011 after Egypt's popular uprising.

Kerry also said the United States would release $60 million for an Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund, which is designed to support small and medium companies in the private sector.

However, the U.S. diplomat hinted further aid will depend on Egypt carrying out both economic and political reforms.

"The United States can and wants to do more," he said. "When Egypt takes the difficult steps to strengthen its economy and build political unity and justice, we will work with our Congress at home on additional support."

A spur to reform
Kerry described the funds as "a good-faith effort to spur reform and help the Egyptian people at this difficult time". On Saturday he said it was "paramount, essential, urgent" that the economy get back on its feet.

However, the sum is dwarfed by the budget deficit, which is growing rapidly as a slide in the Egyptian pound pushes up the cost of subsidizing energy and food, much of which has to be imported using scarce dollars.

In a reform program which Egypt is sending to the IMF, the government targeted a deficit for this financial year of 189.7 billion Egyptian pounds ($28 billion) or 10.9 percent of economic output. Even this assumes economic reforms are made, and the deficit would hit 12.3 percent of GDP without such action, it forecast.

Egypt's political and economic turmoil has frightened away foreign investors and many tourists - a major source of the foreign currency it needs to pay for wheat and fuel imports.

Two years after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt is deeply split between the ruling Islamists and the leftist and liberal opposition parties, most of which have announced they will boycott parliamentary elections due to start next month.

On Sunday, a Cairo appeals court ordered that a politically fraught retrial of Mubarak, his sons and top aides should begin on April 23, nine days before the elections are due to begin.

Mubarak, the first Arab ruler to be tried by his people after the uprisings that swept the Middle East and North Africa, was jailed for life for ordering the killing of demonstrators in 2011, but was granted a retrial by a Cairo court in January.

As Kerry completed his visit, protesters and security forces clashed in Cairo's Tahrir Square, center of the revolution, as police tried to clear demonstrators and open the square to traffic, a witness said.

Unidentified assailants set fire to a police vehicle outside the nearby Egyptian Museum, where the treasures of Ancient Egypt are on display, the state news agency MENA reported.

Hundreds of people were also injured in the Suez Canal city of Port Said during clashes between police and protesters there, security and medical sources said.

Egypt's armed forces said on its Facebook page one military officer was wounded when he was shot in the leg and one soldier from the security forces was killed when he was shot in the neck by "unknown elements".

April IMF deal?
Finance Minister Al-Mursi Al-Sayed Hegazy was optimistic that an IMF agreement could be sealed before the four-stage lower house poll gets under way on April 22. "I expect and am hopeful this deal can be made before the elections," he told reporters.

Economists are divided between those who see such a timetable as over-optimistic and those that believe Egypt cannot hold out much longer without help.

Foreign currency reserves tumbled to $13.6 billion in January from $36 billion before the fall of Mubarak, and the Egyptian pound has dropped 8.2 percent since the central bank began auctioning dollars at the end of December.

Reserve figures due out this week are expected to show a continuing slide further below $15 billion - the amount needed to fund three months' imports, economists said.

However, the price of any deal is likely to be high. Egypt is sending projections to the IMF of huge increases in gasoline and diesel prices as it comes under pressure to curb soaring energy subsidies, a cabinet official said on Sunday.

The government plans to continue subsidized fuel prices for the most needy, under a rationing system to be implemented in July. However, Egyptians excluded from this scheme would face a jump in prices that could provoke public fury if implemented.

The official, who is part of the cabinet's economic team, told Reuters the increases would be put to an IMF team once it arrives in Cairo to negotiate the loan. "The new prices are included in the economic reform program that will be presented to the IMF mission," said the official, who requested anonymity.

Petroleum Minister Osama Kamal was quoted by the state news agency MENA as describing the figures as estimates and said that no decisions had yet been made. According to the projections, the commonly used 90 octane gasoline would leap to 5.71 Egyptian pounds ($0.85) a liter from 1.75, while diesel would go up to 5.21 pounds from 1.10.

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Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday criticized a comment by Turkey's prime minister likening Zionism to crimes against humanity, as the disagreement cast a shadow over talks between the NATO allies.

Kerry, on his first trip to a Muslim nation since taking office, met Turkish leaders for talks meant to focus on the civil war in neighboring Syria and bilateral interests from energy security and Iran's nuclear program to counter-terrorism.

But the comment by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at a U.N. meeting in Vienna this week, condemned by his Israeli counterpart, the White House and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has clouded his visit.

"We not only disagree with it, we found it objectionable," Kerry told a news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, saying he raised the issue "very directly" with Davutoglu and would do so with Erdogan.

Erdogan told the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations meeting in Vienna on Wednesday: "Just as with Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism, it has become necessary to view Islamophobia as a crime against humanity."

The Turkish prime minister's caustic rhetoric on Israel has in the past won applause from conservative supporters at home but raised increasing concern among Western allies.

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Kerry said Turkey and Israel were both key U.S. allies and urged them to restore closer ties.

 

"Given the many challenges that the neighborhood faces, it is essential that both Turkey and Israel find a way to take steps ... to rekindle their historic cooperation," Kerry said.

"I think that's possible but obviously we have to get beyond the kind of rhetoric that we've just seen recently."

Washington needs all the allies it can get as it navigates the political currents of the Middle East, and sees Turkey as a key player in supporting Syria's opposition and planning for the era after President Bashar Assad.

Ties between Israel and Turkey have been frosty since 2010, when Israeli marines killed nine Turks in fighting aboard a Palestinian aid ship that tried to breach Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"If we must talk about hostile acts, then Israel's attitude and its brutal killing of nine of our civilian citizens in international waters may be called hostile," Davutoglu said, adding Turkey had always stood against anti-Semitism.

"No single statement carries a price higher than the blood of a person ... If Israel wants to hear positive statements from Turkey it needs to reconsider its attitude both towards us and towards the West Bank," he told the news conference.

Turkey has demanded a formal apology for the 2010 incident, compensation for victims and their families and for the Gaza blockade to be lifted. Israel has voiced "regret" and has offered to pay into what it called a "humanitarian fund" through which casualties and relatives could be compensated.

Support for Syrian opposition
Erdogan appeared displeased when Kerry arrived late for their evening talks, remarking there was not much time left, according to a U.S. pool reporter who attended the picture-taking session at the start of the meeting.

Kerry, in turn, apologized, saying that he had a good meeting with Davutoglu, according to the pool reporter.

Erdogan, speaking through an interpreter, replied that they "must have spoken about everything so there is nothing left for us to talk about." In a joking tone of voice, Kerry said: "We need you to sign off on everything."

Turkey's relations with the United States have always been prickly. And Erdogan's populist rhetoric, sometimes at apparent odds with U.S. interests, is aimed partly at a domestic audience wary of Washington's influence.

But the two have strong common interests. Officials said Syria would top the agenda in Kerry's meetings with Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, building on the discussions in Rome between 11 mostly European and Arab nations within the "Friends of Syria" group.

After the Rome meeting, Kerry said on Thursday the United States would for the first time give non-lethal aid to the rebels and more than double support to the civilian opposition, although Western powers stopped short of pledging arms.

Turkey has been one of Assad's fiercest critics, hosting a NATO Patriot missile defense system, including two U.S. batteries, to protect against a spillover of violence and leading calls for international intervention.

It has spent more than $600 million sheltering refugees from the conflict that began almost two years ago, housing some 180,000 in camps near the border and tens of thousands more who are staying with relatives or in private accommodation.

Washington has given $385 million in humanitarian aid for Syria but U.S. President Barack Obama has so far refused to give arms, arguing it is difficult to prevent them from falling into the hands of militants who could use them on Western targets.

Turkey, too, has been reluctant to provide weapons, fearing direct intervention could bring the conflict across its borders.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

ROME — In a policy shift, the United States on Thursday announced plans to send military rations and medical supplies directly to Syrian opposition fighters, but fell short of providing weapons and ammunition that the rebels had been asking for.

"The simple fact is (Syrian President Bashar) Assad cannot shoot his way out of this," Secretary of State John Kerry said after his first meeting with Syrian opposition leaders in Rome. "For more than a year the U.S. and our partners who have gathered here in Rome have called on Assad to heed the voice of the Syrian people and halt his war machine. Instead what we have seen is his brutality increase."

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For the first time, the U.S. will supply the Free Syrian Army with food for fighters on the ground and medical supplies for the wounded.

Kerry also announced $60 million in new aid to help the Syrian Opposition Coalition deliver basic goods and services, including security, sanitation, and education, to communities that the rebels control.  The aid is intended to help counteract the influence of radical fighters.

The U.S. will also send "technical advisers" to support opposition staff in Egypt in implementing the assistance and ensure that it gets to the right people. The U.S. plan, forged with European allies, will not include weapons despite the calls of a growing number of American senators and members of the Syrian opposition.

When he was still a senator, John Kerry recommended looking into potentially arming the opposition and setting up safe zones inside the country. His predecessor, Secretary Hillary Clinton and then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also both urged last year that vetted units of the rebel force be armed and trained. 

Disappointed opposition?
The announcement is sure to also disappoint opponents of the Syrian regime who have been asking for weapons.  Frustration with the West's stance had prompted the opposition coalition to say last week that it would boycott the Rome talks. It changed its mind under U.S. pressure.

An unnamed European diplomat who spoke to Reuters held out the prospect of possible Western military support, saying the coalition and its Western and Arab backers would meet in Istanbul next week to discuss military and humanitarian support to the rebels.  

Kerry, who is in Europe on his first foreign trip in his new position, has said that Washington is looking for new ways to help rebels fighting Assad's government and speed up political transition in the country. 

"We are working and will continue to work closely with the Syrian Opposition Coalition and our international partners in order to make sure that the assistance we give reaches who need it and that we want to have receive it, even those who are trapped in some of the hard to reach areas," Kerry said.

The West and Syria's neighbors have been looking for a solution to the two-year-old civil war in Syria that has claimed approximately 70,000 lives, forced at least 2.5 million people from their homes, and sent hundreds of thousands fleeing into neighboring countries.  The conflict also threatens to destabilize the region, in particular neighboring Lebanon.

U.S. policymakers also are trying to make sure the aid does not fall into the hands of al-Qaida sympathizers fighting with the rebels.

A senior State Department official told NBC News on Thursday:

"We are concerned that we have extremists operating in and among the opposition who don't share the goals of a future Syria that is democratic, that's united, that is just, and that respects the human rights of all Syrians citizens and provides for all of them. So those members of the opposition that support our shared values need to be able to demonstrate that they can deliver a better day and need to set an example of a Syria where daily life is governed neither by the brutality of the Assad regime nor by the agenda of al-Qaida affiliated extremists."

Hardline groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamist Ahrar al-Sham have already waged some of the deadliest attacks in Syria, including car bombings in Damascus, Aleppo and elsewhere. Their ranks have been swollen by jihadi fighters from around the Muslim world.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published on Thu Feb 28, 2013 6:51 AM EST

In a policy shift, the United States on Thursday will announce plans to channel aid directly to selected groups of the Syrian opposition rather than through non-governmental agencies, senior White House officials told NBC News.

The aid plan, being forged with European allies, will still not include weapons, despite the calls of a growing number of American senators — but the definition of "non-lethal" aid will be more broadly defined, the officials said, noting that details of the plan were still being finalized.

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Secretary of State John Kerry, who is in Paris on his first foreign trip in his new position, said earlier that Washington is looking for new ways to help rebels fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and speed up political transition in the country.

"We are examining and developing ways to accelerate the transition the Syrian people seek and deserve," Kerry said during a news conference with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

The Washington Post has reported that the administration was planning to start sending non-lethal equipment like body armor and armed vehicles to Assad's foes.

Among the items likely to be included in the direct aid to rebels are meals and medical kits, The Associated Press reported.

Kerry was expected to announce the new contributions at the Rome conference, in addition to tens of millions of dollars intended for rule of law and governance programs.

For its part, the Syrian opposition is planning to demand "qualitative military support" at talks with major powers in Rome this week, a leading figure in movement to oust Assad told Reuters on Wednesday.

"We ask our friends to give us every backing to achieve gains on the ground and help reach a political solution from a position of strength, not weakness," said Riad Seif of the Syrian National Coalition umbrella group said a day before a Friends of Syria conference in the Italian capital.

"We expect to receive political, humanitarian and qualitative military support,” he said.

The Friends of Syria group is composed mainly of Western powers, Gulf Arab states opposed to the Iranian-backed Assad, and Turkey.

The West and Syria's neighbors have been looking for a solution to the two-year-old civil war in Syria that has claimed around 70,000 lives and sent 860,000 refugees fleeing abroad. The conflict pitting the largely Sunni rebels against the Alawite-dominated Assad government threatens to destabilize countries in the region, most notably Lebanon.

In Paris, Kerry said the United States wanted the Syrian opposition's advice on how to accelerate a political solution to help halt the bloodshed and protect the interests of the Syrian people.

"We want (the Syrian opposition's) advice on how we can accelerate the prospects of a political solution because that is what we believe is the best path to peace, the best way to protect the interest of the Syrian people," he said ahead of meetings with the opposition on Thursday.

"As I have said, that may require us to change President al-Assad's current calculation. He needs to know that he can't shoot his way out of this. So we need to convince him of that and I think the opposition needs more help in order to be able to do that. And we are working together to have a united position," Kerry added. 

But Iraq's prime minister warned that a victory for the rebels in Syria would create new problems, by creating a haven for extremists and worsening sectarian tensions in the Middle East.

In an interview with the AP, Nouri al-Maliki stopped shy of expressing support for the Assad regime.

The prime minister's remarks reflect fears by many Shiite Muslims in Iraq and elsewhere that Sunni Muslims would come to dominate Syria should Assad be toppled.

"If the world does not agree to support a peaceful solution through dialogue ... then I see no light at the end of the tunnel," al-Maliki said.

"Neither the opposition nor the regime can finish each other off," he continued. "The most dangerous thing in this process is that if the opposition is victorious, there will be a civil war in Lebanon, divisions in Jordan and a sectarian war in Iraq."

As the bloody Syrian conflict wears on, there is a growing number of U.S. legislators urging greater action, including some type of military support for the rebels.

Sen. Roger Wicker, a member of the Armed Services Committee, appearing on NBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports on Wednesday.

"I hope our new secretary of state will listen carefully to the more responsible of the Syrian opposition," said Wicker, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Asked if that meant the United States should provide weapons, he said: "I think there are ways and means for us to see that is done. I think Secretary of State Kerry is going to be listening to those proposals, and I think if he does what he's being told at the highest levels of the Pentagon, we may be moving, yes, to military aid for the responsible opposition groups."

He agreed that there is a risk to those weapons falling into the hands of radical extremists infiltrating the opposition movement, but said.

"There's no question it's a concern, but this has gone on too long. The Assad regime needs to fall."

Andrea Mitchell is NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent. Catherine Chomiak is an NBC News producer. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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