U.S. Mulls Aid for Syria Opposition

After sanctioning Bashar al-Assad’s regime and telling the Syrian leader to stop killing protesters, the Obama administration is preparing options for aiding the Syrian opposition directly. Two administration officials tell Foreign Policy that a small group of representatives from several agencies has convened to discuss extending humanitarian aid to the Syrian rebels and appointing a special coordinator to work with them. They also discussed establishing a humanitarian corridor along the Turkish border, but that would require establishing a no-fly zone, which the officials say is extremely unlikely. Meanwhile, Syrian security forces have killed at least 11 protesters as the Arab League monitoring team continues its visit.