Coalition may boost Syrian rebel support

Britain is part of an international Coalition drawing up plans to train Syrian rebel fighters and back them with air and naval support, the Independent newspaper reports.

Syrian rebels have cut off the regime's supply lines to Aleppo from neighbouring Raqa province.

General David Richards, the head of Britain's armed forces, held talks recently in London with military leaders from France, Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, the UAE, and a US general, according to the newspaper's website.

During the meeting, organised at the request of Prime Minister David Cameron, the military chiefs are believed to discussed ways to help rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

Britain, France and the US have pledged not to put "boots on the ground" to help the rebels, meaning Turkey is most likely to host any training camps.

Britain's Ministry of Defence would not confirm Monday's report, and repeated its commitment to finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

The EU on Monday gave a vital boost to the newly-formed Syrian opposition coalition, describing it as the "legitimate representatives" of the Syrian people following talks in Brussels with its leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib.

Jihadists led by the radical Al-Nusra Front seized a strategic army base in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo on Monday, in a fresh setback for Assad's regime, a watchdog said.

The US State Department expressed concern on Thursday over the influence of fundamentalist groups in Syria, including the Al-Nusra Front, which is said to have ties to al-Qaeda.

US officials told CNN the US hopes to blacklist Al-Nusra just before the Friends of Syria meeting in Morocco on Wednesday.

Since the last meeting, in Paris in July, the number of people killed has risen from 16,000 to more than 42,000, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.