ROME (AFP): US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted Thursday Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could play no role in a transitional government, on a third day of diplomatic talks seeking to help end the conflict.
Kerry’s comments came as he met Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Rome to shore up US support for Amman, struggling under the weight of some 525,000 refugees who have fled across the border from Syria.
Jordan was working with the United States to “effect a transition government by mutual consent of both sides, which clearly means that in our judgement President Assad will not be a component of that transitional government,” Kerry said.
He also officially unveiled $100 million (76 million euros) in additional US humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees, some $43 million of which will go to support UN programmes in Jordan.
Washington has now pledged about $510 million in humanitarian aid to the Syrian people, and a further $250 million in non-lethal aid to the Syrian rebels fighting to oust Assad.
But the brutal 26-month conflict is taking a heavy toll, with around 2,000 people flooding into Jordan every day, Judeh said.
Ten percent of the population in Jordan is now Syrian refugees, he said. “It is expected to rise to about 20 to 25 percent given the current rates by the end of this year, and possibly to about 40 percent by the middle of 2014.”
“No country can cope with the numbers as huge as the numbers I’ve just described,” Judeh warned, adding he was to fly to Moscow later Thursday for talks on the Syrian crisis.
Plans for an international conference on Syria were also continuing, Kerry said, after agreeing Tuesday in Moscow that he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would work in tandem on the issue.
There is a “very positive response and a very strong desire” to find a way forward, he said after a round of telephone calls with foreign ministers.
It is hoped the conference, aimed at finding a path towards a transitional government in Syria based on the six-point Geneva accord agreed last June, could be held by the end of the month. While no venue has yet been identified, the Swiss city could again host the talks.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported Israel has warned the US that Russia plans to sell sophisticated S-300 missile batteries to Syria, under a $900 million deal agreed in 2010.
The advanced ground-to-air weapons can take out aircraft or guided missiles, and could complicate any Western intervention to stop the bloodshed.
Moscow has told Washington that it will halt any new arms deals while the conflict persists, but has said it would honour existing contracts.
US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, meanwhile also met with the Syrian opposition in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss the way forward, Kerry said.
Since the war erupted, more than 1.5 million Syrians have fled to neighbouring nations, including Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, vastly straining their resources.
Up to four million more could be displaced within the country as they seek to flee the fierce fighting, which has already claimed some 70,000 lives.
Kerry and Judeh were also set to discuss efforts to revive the Middle East peace process, with the US secretary of state expected to return to Israel for his fourth visit at the end of the month.
Jordan, one of only two countries to have signed a peace treaty with Israel, would play a key role going forward, Kerry said, adding it had also been instrumental in bringing together the Arab League to help kickstart the process.
But Kerry warned time was of the essence.
“Each day that goes by in the Middle East always brings the ability for someone, somehow, to create events that always threaten the ability of the process to continue smoothly,” he said.
