Syria, North Korea to dominate G8 foreign ministers talks

Syrian rebels are set to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry and other G8 foreign ministers gathered in London today, with nuclear fears over North Korea and Iran also high on the agenda.

Rebel prime minister Ghassan Hitto and Syrian National Coalition vice presidents George Sabra and Soheir Atassi are expected to push their demands for weapons to help topple President Bashar al-Assad.

The meeting of the top diplomats from the Group of Eight leading industrialised nations will also tackle Myanmar, Somalia, cyber-security and the issue of preventing sexual violence in war zones,"Literally, the top of our agenda will be the situation in Syria, that will be the first subject that we discuss," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a briefing yesterday.

Hague said he had discussed the issue of arming the rebels with the three visiting Syrian opposition figures yesterday.

"They will be able to meet with some of the G8 foreign ministers (today) before the G8 fully gathers" for a ministers' dinner followed by full talks tomorrow, he said.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was highly unlikely to be among those meeting the Syrian opposition representatives given Moscow's support for the Assad regime.

Syria's opposition umbrella group the National Coalition is recognised by the United States and many other Western and
Arab countries as the sole representative of the Syrian people.The Syrian opposition was formally granted an Arab League seat last month.

Kerry, who touched down in London late yesterday, said that with the rebels he would be "discussing various means of having an impact on President Assad's calculations about where the battlefield is going."

Asked if Washington might step up help to Syrian rebels including military aid, Kerry said it was "up to the White House to make any announcement."

But Hague said Britain and France would continue to push for the lifting of an EU arms embargo to Syria so they can arm the rebels. The embargo is due to expire at the end of May but other EU nations are largely in favour of renewing it.

The United Nations says the Syria conflict, now in its third year,has claimed more than 70,000 lives.

Iran, Syria's main ally, will also loom large at the G8 talks after nuclear negotiations between Tehran and world powers ended in deadlock at the weekend.