Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague says his country will continue to increase support for Syrian insurgents fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
"We will over the coming weeks increase our practical but non-lethal support to the opposition," Hague said on Friday.
He further added that Britain has already helped the insurgents with communications and it plans to help them more.
Hague made the comments only one day after the UN-Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan announced that he decided to quit his mission due to lack of support and increasing militarization of the unrest.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement that Annan did not plan to renew his mandate after its expiry on August 31.
Syrian Foreign Ministry expressed regret over the resignation, stressing the country's commitment to the six-point peace plan negotiated by Annan.
Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov warned on Friday that Annan’s resignation paves the way for a military intervention in Syria.
Annan, who was appointed to the task on February 23, proposed a six-point peace plan to restore calm in Syria.
The proposal envisaged a ceasefire between foreign-backed insurgents and the Syrian government forces, a deal which went into effect in mid-April but failed to end the violence as the insurgents refused to lay down their arms.
Annan’s plan called for the realization of a ceasefire between the government and the opposition and also urged that humanitarian groups be allowed to have access to the population, detainees be released, and a political dialogue be started.
TNP/JR
