The plan would be for a zone stretching just 25 miles into Syrian territory that, crucially, would not require pre-emptive strikes against air defence systems provided by Russia.
The US has been reluctant to respond to rebel calls for a wider no-fly zone such as was imposed over Libya because it was seen to require UN authorisation, which would be certain to be blocked by Russia.
Mr Obama would discuss the next step at next week’s G8 meeting in Northern Ireland, setting up a potential clash with Russia, the Assad regime’s key ally.
“The president has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has,” said Mr Rhodes.
“The president has made a decision on providing more support to Syrian opposition. This includes military support,” he said, declining to provide specifics. “Suffice it to say, it will be different in both scope and scale to what we were providing before.”
Mr Rhodes stated that the fall of the strategically vital city of Qusayr a week ago to the regime, and the massing of Assad forces ahead of an assault on the central provinces of Homs and Hama, had created a “new sense of urgency”.
[SUP]A Syrian man who suffered an alleged chemical attack is treated in hospital (REUTERS)[/SUP]
The change in US policy came on the same day that the United Nations announced that 93,000 have been killed in the civil war.
Britain and France led the way in forcing the EU to lift its arms embargo on Syrian rebels. But William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, who was in Washington for talks this week, faces backbench and even cabinet opposition to further involvement, and has given no timetable for when he might take a decision to send weapons.
However after meeting with his US counterpart John Kerry on Wednesday, Mr Hague said that it was vital for Britain, America and its allies to “do more” to assist the rebels and hasten a political solution to the spiralling conflict.
“We will have to be prepared to do more to save lives, to pressure the Assad regime to negotiate seriously and to prevent the growth of extremism and terrorism if diplomatic efforts are going to succeed,” he warned.
The US has been reluctant to respond to rebel calls for a wider no-fly zone such as was imposed over Libya because it was seen to require UN authorisation, which would be certain to be blocked by Russia.
Mr Obama would discuss the next step at next week’s G8 meeting in Northern Ireland, setting up a potential clash with Russia, the Assad regime’s key ally.
“The president has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has,” said Mr Rhodes.
“The president has made a decision on providing more support to Syrian opposition. This includes military support,” he said, declining to provide specifics. “Suffice it to say, it will be different in both scope and scale to what we were providing before.”
Mr Rhodes stated that the fall of the strategically vital city of Qusayr a week ago to the regime, and the massing of Assad forces ahead of an assault on the central provinces of Homs and Hama, had created a “new sense of urgency”.
[SUP]A Syrian man who suffered an alleged chemical attack is treated in hospital (REUTERS)[/SUP]
The change in US policy came on the same day that the United Nations announced that 93,000 have been killed in the civil war.
Britain and France led the way in forcing the EU to lift its arms embargo on Syrian rebels. But William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, who was in Washington for talks this week, faces backbench and even cabinet opposition to further involvement, and has given no timetable for when he might take a decision to send weapons.
However after meeting with his US counterpart John Kerry on Wednesday, Mr Hague said that it was vital for Britain, America and its allies to “do more” to assist the rebels and hasten a political solution to the spiralling conflict.
“We will have to be prepared to do more to save lives, to pressure the Assad regime to negotiate seriously and to prevent the growth of extremism and terrorism if diplomatic efforts are going to succeed,” he warned.