US hints more support for Syria rebels at Rome talks

Syria's opposition and foreign powers hold crucial talks in Rome on Thursday with Washington suggesting it is ready to boost support to rebels in their struggle against President Bashar al-Assad. The Friends of Syria meeting comes after the new US Secretary of State John Kerry said the opposition needs "more help" in the fight against Assad and that Washington wants to speed up the crisis-hit country's political transition. It also comes ahead of an important meeting of the main opposition National Coalition on Saturday in Istanbul, where the umbrella group is to elect a prime minister and government to run parts of Syria seized from Assad's control. Momentum has been building ahead of Thursday's Rome talks, with the opposition -- which initially vowed a boycott -- lured back to the 11-nation meeting after the US and Britain promised specific offers of help.In Paris as part of a European tour on Wednesday, Kerry made it clear Washington was ready to step up its support for the opposition. "We are examining and developing ways to accelerate the political transition that the Syrian people seek and deserve, and that is what we will be discussing in Rome," Kerry said. He said he wanted to hear from opposition leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib about how best to end the violence in Syria, where the United Nations says at least 70,000 have died and hundreds of thousands have been uprooted in the two-year conflict. "That may require us to change president Assad's current calculation. He needs to know he can't shoot his way out of this," Kerry said. "I think the opposition needs more help in order to be able to do that and we are working together to have a united position."Kerry said there was a desire to help the opposition deliver assistance and basic services in areas it has "liberated from the regime".