White House: Syria's future can't include Assad

Obama administration announces $100 million in new humanitarian aid to the opposition

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Wednesday that Syria’s future cannot include President Bashar Assad.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the U.S. views Syria’s future as being a post-Assad future. But he says it’s up to the Syrian opposition to decide which elements of Assad’s regime could be included in a transitional government.

Carney was asked to clarify the U.S. position a day after Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. and Russia would convene a conference soon to seek peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition. Obama has long said Assad must leave office. But Kerry said Tuesday it was up to the Syrian people whether he should leave.

The Obama administration also announced $100 million in new humanitarian aid Wednesday to the opposition. Officials said the money is for humanitarian purposes only and not linked to any decision on arming Syrian rebels.

The announcement will be made by Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday in Rome, where his diplomacy includes a meeting with Jordan’s foreign minister, the officials said.

The new funds will help support 1.4 million Syrian refugees, including many in U.S. ally Jordan, and hundreds of thousands of other civilians still trapped by the violence inside Syria’s border. Total U.S. humanitarian assistance in the two-year war will climb to $510 million.

The U.S. officials weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter ahead of Kerry’s announcement and demanded anonymity.

While the cash influx will certainly be welcomed by aid groups and refugee organizations that have lamented a lack of financial support, it is unlikely to end the clamoring for lethal assistance among the rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.

The Obama administration has said it is considering providing weapons to vetted units in the armed opposition, among other military options, following last week’s revelation of a U.S. intelligence assessment suggested chemical weapons use by the Assad regime. The U.S. also is looking for ways to halt the violence that has killed more than 70,000 people.

But the U.S. maintains deep reservations about providing direct military assistance, given the growing presence of al-Qaida-linked and other extremists in the rebel ranks.

Underscoring the administration’s goal of a peaceful transition of power to end the war, Kerry met for more than five hours Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

Afterward, Kerry and Lavrov declared that the U.S. and Russia would convene an international conference on Syria in the coming weeks with the goal of corralling Assad’s government and opposition representatives into peace talks. Kerry said the U.S. would make its decision on arming the rebels in part on the progress of that effort.