Britain to give Syria's opposition £500,000 aid to 'gain skills to build democratic future'

  • William Hague: Funding will help 'hard-pressed' opposition document regime's violations
  • Arab leaders back UN peace plan at summit in Baghdad
  • Assad vows to assist with plan - if his opponents end violence
  • Syrian rebels kill two army colonels

Britain will provide a further £500,000 to support Syria’s political opposition in the face of president Bashar Assad’s regime, the Foreign Secretary said.

William Hague is expected to announce the extra funding tonight during his annual speech at the Lord Mayor’s Easter Banquet.

Mr Hague said the money would help 'hard-pressed' opposition groups to document the regime’s violations.

His announcement comes as Arab leaders at a regional summit in Iraq's capital today endorsed a UN-backed peace plan for Syria which they said should be implemented 'immediately and completely'.     

William Hague said the money would help 'hard-pressed' opposition groups to document the Syrian regime¿s violations
Arab leaders at a summit in Iraq endorsed a UN-backed peace plan for Syria drawn up by Kofi Annan

William Hague said the aid would help opposition groups to document the Syrian regime's violations. His announcement comes as Arab leaders at a summit endorsed a UN-backed peace plan for Syria drawn up by Kofi Annan (right)

The peace plan was agreed at the Arab summit in Baghdad (above)

The peace plan agreed at the Arab summit in Baghdad (above) calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centres, humanitarian assistance, the release of prisoners and free movement and access for journalists

The six-point plan, drawn up by Kofi Annan, calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centres, humanitarian assistance, the release of prisoners and free movement and access for journalists.   

Assad has promised he will do all he can to ensure Mr Annan's plan succeeds but has demanded a pledge from his opponents to halt violence.

In his speech, Mr Hague will set out that he has 'agreed to provide a further half a million pounds of British support to Syria’s political opposition'.

'It includes agreement in principle for practical non-lethal support to them inside Syria,' Mr Hague said.

President Bashar Assad smiles as he speaks to local supporters during a tour in the Baba Amr neighbourhood of Homs earlier this week

President Bashar Assad smiles as he speaks to local supporters during a tour in the Baba Amr neighbourhood of Homs earlier this week

Amateur footage shows smoke rising from buildings in Homs, Syria, yesterday

Amateur footage shows smoke rising from buildings in Homs, Syria, yesterday

Syrian rebels take their position behind a sand barrier, in the Khaldiyeh neighbourhood in Homs. Britain has pledged 'non-lethal' aid to help them 'build a democratic future'

Syrian rebels take their position behind a sand barrier, in the Khaldiyeh neighbourhood in Homs. Britain has pledged 'non-lethal' aid to help them 'build a democratic future'

'It will help hard-pressed opposition groups and brave civil society organisations inside and outside the country to document the regime’s violations and gain the skills and resources they need to help build a democratic future for Syria.'

The Government has, over the last eight months, given £450,000 of practical support to the Syrian opposition, including media skills training to internal activists and advice to Syrian human rights defenders.

The support is intended to aid Syria’s political opposition groups to develop themselves as a credible alternative to Assad’s regime and develop the necessary capability to realise an orderly transition to a more democratic Syria.

Britain sent an expert mission to the region last month to help document the atrocities that have taken place.

 

Assad vows to aid peace mission
Bashar Assad's promise to do all he can to ensure the peace plan came as rebels carried out a string of bold attacks, killing two army colonels and kidnapping a high-ranking pilot.

The president's condition of an express promise from the opposition to stop attacks could complicate Mr Annan's attempts to bring an end to more than a year of violence that the UN says has killed more than 9,000 people.

Syrian president Bashar Assad talks to officials during a tour in the Baba Amr neighbourhood of Homs earlier this week

Syrian president Bashar Assad talks to officials during a tour in the Baba Amr neighbourhood of Homs earlier this week

The opposition has cautiously welcomed Annan's six-point plan, which calls for Assad's regime to implement a cease-fire.

But the opposition is also deeply sceptical Assad will carry it out, believing he has accepted the plan just to win time while his forces continue their assault to crush the uprising.

Armed rebels are unlikely to stop fighting unless offensives by security forces halt.

In speeches at the Arab leaders' annual summit in Iraq's capital, Baghdad, yesterday, many made clear they felt the burden was on Assad's regime to halt the fighting.

A Syrian rebel stands guard in front of a damaged building in Homs

A Syrian rebel stands guard in front of a damaged building in Homs

'The Syrian government is required today to listen to the voice of reason and wisdom and stop all kinds of violence,' the emir of Kuwait told the gathering.

In comments carried on Syria's state news agency, Assad said: 'Syria will spare no effort to make (Annan's) mission a success and hopes it would return security and stability to the country.'

But he added that Mr Annan must also get a commitment from armed groups to cease their 'terrorist acts' against the government.

Throughout the crisis, Assad's regime has held that it faces not a popular uprising against his rule but a campaign of violence by terrorists.

Syria's uprising began a year ago with peaceful protests against Assad, which were met with a fierce crackdown by security forces.

A damaged Syrian military tank in Homs, Syria

A damaged Syrian military tank in Homs, Syria. Throughout the crisis, Assad's regime has held that it faces not a popular uprising against his rule but a campaign of violence by terrorists

Since then, army defectors and protesters who took up weapons have formed militias, initially to protect protesters.

But as the bloodshed rose, they turned to seizing pro-opposition neighbourhoods, towns and areas and launching attacks on government forces, usually raids on checkpoints or on army convoys.

The new attacks today were particularly bold.

In Aleppo, Syria's largest city, gunmen opened fire on two army colonels in the central Bab al-Hadid roundabout, killing them.

The state news agency Sana said the four attackers belonged to an 'armed terrorist group'.

In eastern Ghouta, a suburb a few kilometres from Damascus, gunmen kidnapped the pilot, a brigadier, while on his way to work,

Rebels also attacked an army truck and killed two soldiers in the central province of Hama, activists said.

Fresh clashes also broke out between government troops and army defectors in the north and south, and activists said security forces reportedly killed at least 16 civilians across Syria, including a child and two women.

Sana said authorities successfully liberated five military personnel who it said were kidnapped earlier by an 'armed group' in the northern province of Idlib.