Kerry vows to step up support for Syrian rebels

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday said that the United States and its Arab and European allies will step up their support for Syria’s opposition to help them “fight for the freedom of their country” if President Bashar Assad’s regime doesn’t engage in peace talks in good faith.

Speaking in Amman, Jordan, ahead of the 11-nation Friends of Syria Conference, Kerry added that if the world can’t find a path toward a negotiated outcome, the result will be more aid to the Syrian rebels.

Kerry confirmed that “several thousand” Hezbollah men were fighting alongside Assad’s troops, Reuters reported.

Earlier, at the same venue, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that Iran and Hezbollah were “propping up” the embattled Syrian president.

“It is very clear that the Syrian regime is receiving a great deal of support, increasing support in recent months from outside Syria, from Hezbollah and Iran. This is a regime that is increasingly dependent on external support,” Hague was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Hague reiterated Britain’s stance that the Syrian president must resign before two-year civil war could be ended.

“It is the longstanding view of the UK that Assad needs to go, and we have never been able to see any solution which involves him staying,” Hague told a press conference.

The meeting in Jordan is set to focus on how to advance political transition, with an emphasis on a Russian-US proposal for such a strategy. Delegates from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, are attending the gathering.

The US and Russia have wrangled repeatedly while more than 70,000 Syrians have died, but they now say they’re working together to start direct talks between Syria’s government and the opposition in Geneva next month. Washington demands Assad’s ouster, while Russia continues to provide the Syrian leader with military aid and diplomatic cover.

In Germany, the weekly “Der Spiegel” reported that the German intelligence chief has revised his assessment of the Syrian civil war.

The chief, Gerhard Schindler, told a small group of politicians dealing with security issues in a secret briefing that Assad’s military is stronger than it has been in a long time, according to the report. Additional successful offensives of the regime are possible anytime, he said.

The German intelligence agency BND believes this is a turning point. At the end of 2012, it appeared the regime was in its end phase.

He said the channels for restocking the regime’s weapons supplies are now open, and the supply of gas for tanks and aircraft is also working again. Schindler said Assad most likely won’t be able to defeat the rebels, but he can contain them and even win back some territory.

The BND predicts that in 2013, regime troops will be able to recapture additional territory. If the fighting continues as it has in recent weeks, the regime could recapture the entire south by the end of the year. In this case, the rebels would be left with only the north.

Syrian Ambassador to Jordan Bahjat Suleiman denounced the Friends of Syria meeting on Wednesday, calling the gathering part of a US-Israeli campaign to destroy his country. Suleiman castigated Arab nations for attending the Amman meeting, saying they are aiding Washington in its “aggressive, terrorist war, on behalf of Israel, to destroy Syria.”

Syria denies it is facing a legitimate movement for change, but rather a foreign-backed terrorist conspiracy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.