Japan on Monday decided to support the Opposition forces fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria and send them supplies such as vehicles and power generators, Japanese media reported.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make a statement in this regard at the G8 Summit opening at Lough Erne in Northern Ireland on June 17. The Syrian crisis is likely to come up for discussion at the Summit.
Although Japan has recognized the Opposition Syrian National Council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, it is for the first time that the Japanese government is offering material support to them.
Abe is also expected to announce financial support for Lebanon, Jordan and other countries bordering Syria, which are dealing with an influx of Syrian refugees. More than 300,000 Syrian refugees are living in these countries now.
Abe also planned to discuss North Korea's nuclear and missile programs as well as abduction of Japanese nationals by that country with other G8 leaders.Japanese government officials are hoping to insert the North Korean issues into the Summit's declaration, reports Japan's NHK broadcaster.
The more than two-year-old fightings between regime forces and opposition rebels in Syria have left over 80,000 people dead and half a million displaced. A solution to the crisis eluded as the U.N. Security Council and the world powers divided on the overthrow of President Assad.
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