WORLD_ US evaluating next steps in Syria

US evaluating next steps in Syria

Updated: 22:37, Saturday February 9, 2013
Sky NEWS

The United States is weighing its next steps to try to end the conflict in Syria, new Secretary of State John Kerry says, adding there has been 'too much killing' in the 22-month war.

His comments on Friday came amid hints of deep divisions in President Barack Obama's cabinet over US policy in Syria, where some 60,000 people have died as opposition rebels battle to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

It was revealed this week that the White House had rejected secret plans drawn up last summer by Kerry's predecessor, Hillary Clinton, and former CIA chief, General David Petraeus, to arm the Syrian opposition.

'It is a very complicated and very dangerous situation,' warned Kerry, who only took over as America's top diplomat late last Friday.

'There's too much killing and there's too much violence and we obviously want to try to find a way forward,' he said, adding that everybody in the administration was 'deeply distressed' by the continued violence in Syria.

'We are evaluating now, we are taking a look at what steps, if any, diplomatic particularly, might be able to be taken in an effort to reduce that violence and deal with that situation.'

But he stopped short of saying whether the administration would review its long-held position of not providing arms to the Syrian opposition.

So far the United States is the largest single donor of aid, having pledged some $US365 million ($A356.88 million) to help the Syrian opposition and refugees. Some 760,000 people have fled the country and another 2.5 million are internally displaced.

But Washington has thus far refused to help tip the military balance on the ground by arming the Syrian opposition, limiting itself to only non-lethal support such as communications equipment.

News that other senior cabinet members, including Pentagon chief Leon Panetta and chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey, had supported the Clinton-Petraeus plan, further fuelled the notion of major differences over what to do about Syria.

Kerry said he was not aware of what decisions had been made before he took over as secretary of state a week ago, stressing he was focused on the future.

'I'm not going to go backwards. This is a new administration now, the president's second term. I'm a new secretary of state, and we're going forwards from this point,' he stressed.




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