Syrian opposition believes outside military intervention 'only solution' to end crisis

Damascus -  The Syrian opposition has said it has concluded that foreign military intervention might be the "only solution" to end the crisis in the country.

Bassma Kodmani, a senior figure in the Syrian National Council (SNC), on Wednesday suggested her group was close to abandoning its opposition to intervention from either NATO or Arab League forces.

"We are really close to seeing this military intervention as the only solution. There are two evils, military intervention or protracted civil war," The Telegraph quoted Kodmani, as saying.

She said the 'friends of Syria should allow individual members to support the opposition logistically, technically or militarily.'

"There is a humanitarian emergency. The world has not responded to this emergency adequately. The people in Syria feel abandoned. They feel they are being let down by the world," Kodmani added.

The United States has already hinted that it may be willing to pursue such an option, though Foreign Secretary William Hague ruled it out.

On Wednesday Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad discussed the crisis in a telephone call, but agreed to reject foreign intervention in Syria.

Meanwhile, the Syrian regime's bombardment of Homs continued for a 19th straight day yesterday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 7,636 people, including 5,542 civilians, had been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule erupted last year in March.