(Associated Press) – The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is calling for the United States to provide weapons to approved Syrian opposition groups battling President Bashar Assad’s forces in the 2-year-old civil war.
Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey introduced legislation on Monday that would allow for arms, military training and nonlethal aid to rebels that meet certain criteria on human rights and don’t have links to terrorism.
The bill also would create a $250 million fund to assist the country in a post-Assad transition. The measure would give the U.S. government the power to sanction any individual who sells or transfers military equipment, weapons or oil to Assad.
Menendez said the U.S. must act to tip the scales in favor of the opposition.
Chemical weapons:
The White House asserted Monday that it’s highly likely that Assad’s regime, not the rebel opposition, was behind any use of chemical weapons in Syria.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said there is certainly evidence that chemical weapons have been used there.
In Geneva, a United Nations commission investigating alleged war crimes and other abuses in Syria on Monday distanced itself from claims by one of its members that Syrian rebels have used the nerve agent sarin, but not the regime. The panel said it has no conclusive evidence about the alleged use of sarin as chemical weapons.
