MOSCOW, December 10 (RIA Novosti) – The United States denied on Monday reports that it is covertly supplying weapons and military equipment to insurgents fighting the Syrian regime.
A “covert US plan to supply rebels” was reported overnight by The Sunday Times, but US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland dismissed it, saying the United States only provide non-military assistance to groups fighting the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
One such group, Jabhat al-Nusra, was put by the American government on a list of terrorist organizations for alleged ties to al-Qaida, Nuland said.
She also said her agency hopes for more meetings between the UN Special Envoy on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, and deputy heads of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the State Department. The trio met in Geneva on Sunday to discuss Syria, but failed to reach a compromise.
Separately, foreign ministers of the 27 EU countries expressed concerns on Monday about the possibility of Assad’s regime using the chemical weapons at its disposal against the rebels.
Official Damascus has repeatedly denied any plans to fight the resilient insurgency with chemical weapons, while the United States said using such weapons could prompt a military intervention into Syria.
