US, Turkey agree on 'non-lethal' aid for Syrian rebels

US President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on Sunday on the need to send "non-lethal" aid to Syrian rebels, including communications equipment, a US official said.

The leaders agreed that a "Friends of Syria" group meeting on April 1 should seek to provide such aid and medical supplies, as they met in South Korea on the eve of a nuclear security summit, said US deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes.

Washington has said several times that it is looking at providing non-lethal aid to Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar Al Assad.

The rebels are badly outgunned by Syria's armed forces but the White House has said that it does not favour arming the rebels, arguing that further "militarising" the conflict would worsen civilian bloodshed.

In the talks with Erdogan, Obama said the United States and Turkey agreed that "there should be a process" of transition to a "legitimate government" in Syria.

Erdogan noted that 17,000 refugees had fled to Turkey from Syria and said "we cannot be spectators" to the humanitarian crisis sparked by the crackdown on rebel groups.

However the Obama administration appears to fear that any weapons sent to Syria would be at risk of falling into the wrong hands, and does not appear to have confidence in rebel groups or a clear picture of their makeup.

Washington has also ruled out unilateral military action in Syria, and says there is no coalition favouring multilateral action like that which ousted Libya's Muammar Gaddafi last year.

The two leaders also on Sunday discussed Iran, with Obama reiterating a warning he made earlier this month that the "window" for diplomacy to end a showdown with the Islamic republic over its nuclear programme was closing.

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