"The meeting of the so-called 'Friends of Syria' held in Istanbul yesterday has thrown oil on the fire of the Syrian conflict," said Al-Watan.
The United States announced at the meeting in the Turkish city that it would double its aid to Syria's opposition, including with new non-lethal military equipment, but paid no heed to calls for arms supplies or a direct intervention.
Secretary of State John F.
I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a
lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
said U.S. assistance to the opposition would rise to $250 million (191 million euros).
Some of the money will be used to "provide an expanded range of support" to rebel fighters battling
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
, beyond the current provisions of food rations and medical kits, "to include other types of non-lethal supplies."
But the pledge fell short of opposition demands for foreign backers to supply the rebels with arms, impose a no-fly zone and carry out air strikes on positions used by the Assad regime to launch missiles.
"The results of the meeting were known in advance with the American statements made last week on providing new aid to the opposition," Al-Watan said.
"The statements were not surprising, given that Washington has opted since the start of the crisis to line up with gangs by giving them political, financial and military support," it said.