Syria rebels seek arms, no-fly zone to avert disaster

Syrian rebels urged friendly world powers on Thursday to provide them with heavier weapons and to impose a no-fly zone over parts of the country they control to avert a humanitarian disaster.

Western and Arab powers from the so-called Friends of Syria group will meet in Doha on Saturday, and Free Syrian Army spokesman Louay Meqdad said “the regime could use Scud missiles with unconventional warheads to shell liberated areas. So we need a safe haven”. “It is necessary to establish secure areas and impose no-fly zones in the south or north,” he told AFP in Dubai. (AFP)