World Powers Convene to Map Out Syria Aid Plan Amid Reports of Violence
World powers convening Friday in Tunisia are mapping out a plan to deliver humanitarian aid, call for a cease-fire and give political legitimacy to the Syrian opposition, while details emerged that Arab nations have begun supplying arms to Syrian rebels, sources told CNN.
The diplomatic developments follow opposition claims that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces are now emulating elsewhere the shelling attacks against the besieged city of Homs that have left hundreds dead.
At least two people were killed Friday in Homs, during the 21st consecutive day of shelling by government forces against the opposition stronghold, according to opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
That follows reports that more than 100 people were killed a day earlier, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a loose network of opposition groups that documents government violence.
Diplomatic sources told CNN late Thursday that a number of Arab nations are supplying arms to the rebel Syrian army and militias.
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The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, would not identify the countries.
But there are no shortage of possibilities, beginning with Turkey and nations belonging to the Arab League that have condemned al-Assad’s nearly year-long brutal crackdown on an opposition calling for an end to his regime.