NNA - The United States said Sunday it would double its aid to Syria's opposition, including with new non-lethal military equipment, but paid no heed to calls for arms supplies or a direct intervention, AFP reported.


In a statement after talks among the pro-opposition "Friends of Syria" group in Istanbul, Secretary of State John Kerry said U.S. assistance to the opposition would double to $250 million (191 million euros).


Some of the money will be used to "provide an expanded range of support" to rebel fighters battling President Bashar Assad, beyond the current provisions of food rations and medical kits, "to include other types of non-lethal supplies," the statement said.


It did not elaborate, but U.S. media had reported that Washington is preparing to provide the rebels with protective battlefield equipment such as body armor, armored vehicles and night-vision goggles, as well as communications gear.


"The president directed me to step up our efforts," Kerry told a news conference.


"The stakes in Syria couldn't be more clear: chemical weapons, the slaughter of people by ballistic missiles and other weapons of huge destruction, the potential of a whole country," he said.


"This bloodshed needs to stop."