France allocates 1.2 mln euros to Syrian opposition

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced Monday that France had decided to grant 1.2 million euros (about 1.55 million U.S. dollars) as an emergency humanitarian aid to the opposition Syrian National Coalition. The allocation came while the Syrian opposition convened a conference in Cairo to seek assistance of the international community to the Syrian people, the French minister said in a statement. "We had already made, since the beginning of this year, direct financial assistance of 1.2 million euros to the civilians Revolutionary Councils as a humanitarian action," Fabius affirmed. The French minister noted that France also provides additional assistance to Syrian refugees in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon by subsidizing 300,000 euros, through a set of projects implemented by NGOs. According to Fabius, "the humanitarian situation in Syria is deteriorating and it is imperative that the international community act." "France, who was the first to recognize the new Coalition as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people, now wants to facilitate the means to come to help the countrymen in distress," he added. (1 euro = 1.29 U.S. dollars)