AMMAN HOSTS A MEETING OF THE “FRIENDS OF SYRIA” GROUP

      Amman, 5 Rajab 1434/15 Mei 2013 (MINA) – Jordan’s Foreign Ministry announced Tuseday (14/5), Amman will host a meeting of the so-called “Friends of Syria” group next week.

      “The foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the United States, Britain, France, Turkey, Germany and Italy will hold a meeting in Amman in mid-next week,” ministry spokeswoman Sabah Rafei said.

      “This meeting will follow up on previous meetings in Istanbul and Abu Dhabi to discuss the unfortunate events in Syria and coordinate positions in line with the recent US-Russian agreement to revive the political path to tackle the crisis.”

      At a meeting late Monday in Abu Dhabi, foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, insisted that President Bashar Al-Assad should have no role in the future of Syria.

      Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Russian President Vladimir Putin on an apparent mission to warn Moscow against sending arms to Syria as alarm grows over the spiraling death toll in the conflict, the Suadi Gazette quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

       The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a newly-revised toll, that the conflict in its third year has killed over 94,000.

       In their concluding remarks following talks at the Russian strongman’s Black Sea residence in Sochi, the two leaders were intent on giving little away about their closed-door meeting.

       Israel wants Russia to halt supplies of formidable S-300 missiles which would severely complicate any future air attacks against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

        The West and Israel are particularly concerned about Russia’s refusal to rule out deliveries to Syria of advanced S-300 missile batteries under an existing contract amid growing concerns over a war that activists say has claimed at least 80,000 lives.

        Washington and Moscow have proposed a peace conference between the Syrian regime and the opposition in the coming weeks to find a political solution to the country’s civil war. But France warned Tuesday that the proposed foreign-backed peace conference would be “very difficult” to organize.

        A diplomatic source said a meeting of top officials from the United States, France and Britain will take place on Thursday, with Russia and China joining the talks a day later. It is still unknown where these talks will be held.

        In a statement after talks among the pro-opposition “Friends of Syria” meeting group in Istanbul last month, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington will double its assistance to the Syrian opposition to $250 million and expand its non-lethal military supplies to rebel fighters. (T/P09/E1).

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).