US supplies arms to Syrian opposition as Geneva peace talks falter It marks the first significant shipment of arms that Washington has given to the Syrian insurgency, after months of hesitation. President Obama had promised arms to the rebels in June, but direct supplies were then not authorised as Congress took fright at the increasing power of al-Qaeda within opposition ranks. While Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies have supplied weapons in the meantime, this recent shipment is the largest reported have entered into Syria through its border with Jordan, and is helping to spur a renewed rebel offensive. "Our sources in the area confirmed that there are light arms coming in," said Dan Layman, from the Syrian Support Group, the US-based lobby group for moderate Syrian rebel factions. The amount of weapons is bigger than it has been before, and is having a significant effect on the offensive to push the regime out of the southern parts of the country and from the suburbs of Damascus. An activist in Damascus going by the pseudonym Susan Ahmad confirmed to the Telegraph that there has been fierce fighting in the south of the capital, with the main highway to the southern border with Jordan blocked by the violence. It was hoped that the United Nations-brokered Geneva II talks would at least bring relief to thousands of Syrian civilians trapped - and in many cases starving - in areas besieged by fighting. Efforts by the United Nations to deliver a months worth of rations to approximately 2000 people trapped inside the Old City of Homs were stalled on Tuesday when the government said it required further assurances that the food would not be delivered to "terrorists."