(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/130227-kerry-fabius-jsw-1132a.photoblog600.jpg)Jacquelyn Martin / APSecretary of State John Kerry, left, shakes hands after a news conference with French Minister of Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius at the Foreign Ministry in Paris on Wednesday.By Catherine Chomiak, Producer, NBC NewsPARIS — The United States is looking for new ways to help rebels fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and help speed up political transition in the country, Secretary of State John Kerry said on his maiden foreign trip on Wednesday.
"We are examining and developing ways to accelerate the transition the Syrian people seek and deserve," Kerry said during news conference with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
While Kerry did not say if Washington was set to change the policy on aiding the Syrian rebels, the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-considers-direct-aid-to-syrian-rebels/2013/02/26/4af93d3c-8033-11e2-b99e-6baf4ebe42df_print.html) has reported that the administration was planning to start sending non-lethal equipment like body armor and armed vehicles to Assad's foes. American officials have so far opposed sending weapons to the rebels.
Follow @NBCNewsWorld (https://twitter.com/NBCNewsWorld) The West and Syria's neighbors have been looking for a solution to the two-year-old civil war in Syria that has claimed around 70,000 lives and sent 860,000 refugees fleeing abroad. The conflict pitting the largely Sunni rebels against the Alawite-dominated Assad government threatens to destabilize countries in the region, most notably Lebanon.
In Paris, Kerry said the United States wanted the Syrian opposition's advice on how to accelerate a political solution to help halt the bloodshed and protect the interests of the Syrian people.
"We want (the Syrian opposition's) advice on how we can accelerate the prospects of a political solution because that is what we believe is the best path to peace, the best way to protect the interest of the Syrian people," he said ahead of meetings with the opposition on Thursday. During his first overseas trip as secretary of state, John Kerry hinted at a policy shift saying that Syrian opposition isn't going to be 'dangling in the wind wondering where the support is.' NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports. "As I have said, that may require us to change President al-Assad's current calculation. He needs to know that he can't shoot his way out of this. So we need to convince him of that and I think the opposition needs more help in order to be able to do that. And we are working together to have a united position," Kerry added.
The decision whether to boost the size and scope of assistance to Assad's foes is expected by Thursday when Kerry will attend an international conference on Syria in Rome that leaders of the opposition Syrian National Coalition have been persuaded to attend, officials told Reuters.
The officials spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity because the change in policy was still being finalized and needed to be coordinated with European countries.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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