Syrian President Bashar Assad says will spare no effort to make the mission of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan a success but he demands that armed opponents commit to halting violence, it was reported on Thursday.
SANA news agency quoted Assad, in a letter to the leaders of the BRIC economic powers, as saying "the countries which support the armed groups with money and weapons must be persuaded to stop this immediately." Arab leaders at a regional summit in Iraq's capital on Thursday endorsed a UN-backed peace plan for Syria which they said should be implemented "immediately and completely."
The six-point plan, drawn up by Kofi Annan, calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centres, humanitarian assistance, the release of prisoners and free movement and access for journalists.
Meanwhile, the U.K. announced it will double non-military aid to opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad and expand its scope to equipment, possibly including secure telephones to help activists communicate more easily, officials said on Thursday.
The British government will provide 500,000 pounds ($800,000) worth of new aid in addition to 450,000 pounds already donated, Foreign Secretary William Hague said.
"It includes agreement in principle for practical non-lethal support to them inside Syria," Hague said in a speech.
The aid will be for Syrian activists working peacefully to achieve a political transition in Syria, government officials said.
They said there had been no change in their opposition to arming rebels and of having no links with the Free Syrian Army.
Until now, Britain has provided the Syrian opposition with training in areas such as media skills and in gathering information on human rights abuses that could be used later to prosecute Syrian officials.
The new aid will include equipment - possibly items such as secure telephones to help activists to communicate without fear of detection and attack, a government source said.

Haaretz.com