US offering Syria revolutionaries $123m non-lethal aid

The United States will be giving Syrian revolutionaries $123m in non-lethal aid and double the amount of non-lethal assistance to the Syrian opposition. Supplies include body armour, armoured vehicles, night vision goggles and advanced communications equipment.

It will also be increasing humanitarian aid. Foreign ministers from the main supporters of the rebels trying to topple the Syrian government have been meeting in Istanbul to increase pressure on Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

The United Nations estimates the fighting in Syria has killed more than 70,000 people.

"The stakes in Syria couldn't be more clear," said US Secretary of State John Kerry.

"Chemical weapons, the slaughter of people by ballistic missiles and other weapons of huge destruction, the potential of a whole country ... being torn apart into enclaves, the potential of sectarian violence.

"This bloodshed needs to stop and that's what brought us here tonight on Saturday and a very early Sunday morning to talk about the possibilities for peace and transition."

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers said they welcomed the Syrian National Coalition's "firm rejection of extremism and its commitment not to use chemical weapons".

They cited those commitments in agreeing to enhance and expand support for all coalition institutions.

The foreign ministers said they recognised the "need to change the balance of power on the ground" and welcomed the additional pledges and commitments to further increase the support to the Supreme Military Council.