France stresses urgent need for Syrian humanitarian aid

France is urging the international community, particularly its European Union partners, to increase humanitarian aid to help those affected by the Syrian conflict and will push for a UN Security Council resolution on the humanitarian situation in Syria, officials indicated on Tuesday. A day after the 28 EU members discussed the Syrian crisis at a meeting in Brussels, the French Foreign Ministry indicated that Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had "evoked the humanitarian tragedy that has left more than 100,000 dead in Syria and resulted in a million refugees and displaced persons" in neighbouring countries. Several million more and believed to be internally displaced in Syria and the external refugees could number three million by the end of the year, according to UN estimates. This is putting increased pressure on countries like Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, where the bulk of the refugees have settled, but it is also affecting Iraq, which is witnessing its own internal instability due to sectarian clashes. "Increasing international aid at both the European and international levels is therefore imperative. The Foreign Minister stressed the importance of adopting a UN Security Council resolution on the humanitarian situation in Syria," French spokesman Philippe Lalliot said. France continues to stress the need for a political solution and of organising peace talks in a second Geneva Conference, which is nonetheless a remote possibility given the situation on the battlefield. The holding of a conference "presumes rebalancing the situation on the ground" and this will be discussed Wednesday in Paris when President Francois Hollande holds talks with Syrian National Coalition President Ahmad Al-Assi Al-Jarba, Lalliot indicated. The French government is maintaining a commitment made in Doha June 22 at the core group meeting of the Friends of Syria where it was decided to furnish "collective, coordinated and complementary aid" to the SNC, but for France, no arms supplies as yet. "France is helping the Syrian National Coalition but is not providing lethal weapons, believing that the guarantees are not sufficient," the French official remarked. Officials here are wary of making similar mistakes in Syria as were made in some cases in Libya, whereby weapons supplied for the insurrection forces for "self-protection" wound up in the hands of extremists and in some cases were used against France's allies and its troops in Mali and also by groups in Libya. "We are supplying non-lethal materiel to bolster the armed opposition's capabilities, such as secure means of observation and communication. We are also providing technical assistance to optimize the means the opposition already has," Lalliot stated. At the same time, the SNC is clamoring for more weapons as it is meeting difficulties sustaining the fight against Syrian regime forces and is also losing ground and influence to more extreme opposition forces who are obtaining heavier weapons from their suppliers.