Kerry makes no further U.S. commitments in Syria

The situation in Syria and the North Korean threats were high on the agenda when G8 leaders gathered in London on Wednesday.?U.S. Secretary of State?John Kerry made no further U.S. commitments in Syria, but spoke of the need for the opposition to become better organized.?

By Natalie Huet,?Reuters, Arshad Mohammed,?Reuters / April 10, 2013

US Secretary of State John Kerry ahead of a meeting in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in central London, Wednesday. Kerry is meeting in London with Syrian opposition leaders and Russia's top diplomat.

AP Photo/Ben Stansall, pool

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Western and Middle Eastern nations trying to help the Syrian opposition in its war against President?Bashar al-Assad?will meet in?Turkey?on April 20, a U.S. official said on Wednesday as G8 foreign ministers gathered in London for a summit.

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U.S. Secretary of State?John Kerry?will attend the meeting of the so-called Friends of Syria?"core group" in?Istanbul, said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

The G8 talks, which began in London over dinner on Wednesday and were due to end on Thursday, will also be the first chance for the ministers to discuss face-to-face the failure of last week's meeting in Almaty on curbing Iran's nuclear program.

North Korean threats of war also will be high on the agenda of the?Group of Eight?nations - the?United States, Britain,?France,?Germany,?Italy,?Japan,?Canada?and?Russia?- meeting.

Britain was expected to call for more help for the Syrian opposition but there are no signs of a major shift in policy.

Leaders of the?Syrian National Coalition?(SNC) were present on the sidelines of the G8 meeting and were expected to hold talks with those foreign ministers willing to meet them.

During a lunch meeting earlier in the day, Syrian opposition members said they needed more humanitarian assistance and Kerry talked about the importance of the opposition becoming better organised, a senior U.S. official told reporters.

British Foreign Secretary?William Hague, in a statement issued after the talks, said Britain was committed to finding a political solution to the crisis.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/0Lj3KtbIPuM/Kerry-makes-no-further-U.S.-commitments-in-Syria

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