Syria has dismissed as "a caravan of lies" claims that it used chemical weapons, after the US said it would give the rebels "direct military aid".
President Obama made the decision after his administration concluded Syrian forces under Bashar al-Assad were using chemical weapons, a spokesman said.
A rebel leader, Salim Idris, told the BBC it was a "very important step".
But Syria's foreign ministry said the US had used "fabricated information" on chemical weapons to justify the move.
Washington was resorting to "cheap tactics" to justify Mr Obama's decision to arm the rebels, said a statement from the ministry.
On the ground, there were reports of the fiercest fighting in months in Syria's largest city, Aleppo.
Two years of conflict had killed at least 93,000 people, the UN said on Thursday, at a current rate of 5,000 people a month. More than 1,700 children under the age of 10 have died, it added.
CIA training?
Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to Mr Obama, said the president had made the decision to increase assistance, including "military support", to the rebels' Supreme Military Council (SMC) and Syrian Opposition Coalition. The US was "comfortable" working with Gen Idris, leader of the SMC, and aimed to isolate some of the more extremist elements of the opposition, such as Sunni militant group al-Nusra, he added.
Mr Rhodes did not give details about the military aid, other than to say it would be "different in scope and scale to what we have provided before".
BBC News - Syria regime denounces US chemical weapons claim
David Cameron has said Britain has taken "no decision" to arm the Syrian rebels after the US declared it would provide them with military support.
But the prime minister backed the US assessment that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons and described President Assad as a "brutal dictator".
He is to speak to President Obama by phone, ahead of next week's G8 summit where Syria will be high on the agenda.
Syria says claims it used chemical weapons are "a caravan of lies".
Russia says it is not convinced by the evidence presented by the US and the UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon has said providing arms to either side would not help as there must be a political, not military, solution.
The White House said President Obama had made the decision to provide arms to the opposition after concluding the Assad regime was using chemical weapons.
Speaking at a news conference in the Downing Street garden, at which he unveiled an economic package for Northern Ireland, Mr Cameron said samples from inside Syria showing evidence of chemical weapons had been tested by the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down.
There was "credible evidence of multiple attacks using chemical weapons", he added.
BBC News - No decision on arming Syrian rebels, says David Cameron
I seem to recall that was said about Iraq, and look where we ended up on that one. Iraq and Afghanistan have cost the UK taxpayer over ?20 billion, that couple with banks no wonder we have so much ing debt and now we're going off on another "interference trip" into a fight that has nothing to do with us, and as we did so well with supplying arms to the opposition in Afghanistan in the 1980's, I'm sure we'll all end up paying the price. Any MP who votes for us to get involved in that one needs to be named so that come the next election they're kicked out
The US and UK governments really don't learn do they, just as we're getting tf out of Afghanistan they have to find somewhere else to send people to be injured or die..... The vote to get involved should be a referendum, not just MP's who want to make a name, and a profit for their arms dealer mates, for themselves.
If there are to be voting choices can we have
a) MP's should go personally and fight on their own in Syria
b) Send in the UK forces
c) Stay out of it
I'd be hard pushed to pick between a and c... and would probably pick a first and when they'd gone choose c....
President Obama made the decision after his administration concluded Syrian forces under Bashar al-Assad were using chemical weapons, a spokesman said.
A rebel leader, Salim Idris, told the BBC it was a "very important step".
But Syria's foreign ministry said the US had used "fabricated information" on chemical weapons to justify the move.
Washington was resorting to "cheap tactics" to justify Mr Obama's decision to arm the rebels, said a statement from the ministry.
On the ground, there were reports of the fiercest fighting in months in Syria's largest city, Aleppo.
Two years of conflict had killed at least 93,000 people, the UN said on Thursday, at a current rate of 5,000 people a month. More than 1,700 children under the age of 10 have died, it added.
CIA training?
Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to Mr Obama, said the president had made the decision to increase assistance, including "military support", to the rebels' Supreme Military Council (SMC) and Syrian Opposition Coalition. The US was "comfortable" working with Gen Idris, leader of the SMC, and aimed to isolate some of the more extremist elements of the opposition, such as Sunni militant group al-Nusra, he added.
Mr Rhodes did not give details about the military aid, other than to say it would be "different in scope and scale to what we have provided before".
BBC News - Syria regime denounces US chemical weapons claim
David Cameron has said Britain has taken "no decision" to arm the Syrian rebels after the US declared it would provide them with military support.
But the prime minister backed the US assessment that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons and described President Assad as a "brutal dictator".
He is to speak to President Obama by phone, ahead of next week's G8 summit where Syria will be high on the agenda.
Syria says claims it used chemical weapons are "a caravan of lies".
Russia says it is not convinced by the evidence presented by the US and the UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon has said providing arms to either side would not help as there must be a political, not military, solution.
The White House said President Obama had made the decision to provide arms to the opposition after concluding the Assad regime was using chemical weapons.
Speaking at a news conference in the Downing Street garden, at which he unveiled an economic package for Northern Ireland, Mr Cameron said samples from inside Syria showing evidence of chemical weapons had been tested by the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down.
There was "credible evidence of multiple attacks using chemical weapons", he added.
BBC News - No decision on arming Syrian rebels, says David Cameron
I seem to recall that was said about Iraq, and look where we ended up on that one. Iraq and Afghanistan have cost the UK taxpayer over ?20 billion, that couple with banks no wonder we have so much ing debt and now we're going off on another "interference trip" into a fight that has nothing to do with us, and as we did so well with supplying arms to the opposition in Afghanistan in the 1980's, I'm sure we'll all end up paying the price. Any MP who votes for us to get involved in that one needs to be named so that come the next election they're kicked out

The US and UK governments really don't learn do they, just as we're getting tf out of Afghanistan they have to find somewhere else to send people to be injured or die..... The vote to get involved should be a referendum, not just MP's who want to make a name, and a profit for their arms dealer mates, for themselves.
If there are to be voting choices can we have
a) MP's should go personally and fight on their own in Syria
b) Send in the UK forces
c) Stay out of it
I'd be hard pushed to pick between a and c... and would probably pick a first and when they'd gone choose c....


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