The concern over the lives of the Syrian people due to the ongoing violence threats was expressed in a press release following the meeting.

“The regime must immediately stop the indiscriminate bombardment against populated areas which are crimes against humanity and cannot remain unpunished,” according to the statement.

The United States pledged $60 million in “non-lethal” assistance for the Syrian opposition as well as the first direct U.S. aid to opposition fighters in the form of food and medical assistance.

“Aiding the people who are fighting for a free Syria is a cause to which President Obama and all of us are deeply committed. And what unites us today is our shared conviction that the best solution for Syria is a political solution. The sooner we can get started, the more lives we’ll save,” Secretary of State John Kerry said.

Meanwhile, Turkish leaders prepare to welcome the top US diplomat for talks that are set to revolve around Syria, a day after he announces fresh aid for the Syrian rebels.

The European Union, meanwhile, said it amended sanctions on Syria to permit the supply of armored vehicles, non-lethal military equipment and technical aid to the Syrian opposition, provided they were intended to protect civilians.

The meeting came ahead of a meeting of the Syrian National Coalition on Saturday in Turkey where the umbrella opposition group is to elect a prime minister and government to run parts of Syria seized by rebels.

The United States and European countries have been hesitant to provide militarily aid to the opposition on the ground until now.

Benedict, whose years as pope have included further revelations about sexual abuse scandals involving priests and have been marred by questions about his management skills, said that while “the Lord has given us many days of sunshine and gentle breeze, days in which the catch has been abundant;  there have been times when the seas were rough and the wind against us.”

He publicly acknowledge that his decision to retire was guided by his fragile health.

“I took this step in the full knowledge of its gravity and rarity but with a profound serenity of spirit,” Benedict said to the audience listening to him, mute. And, he added, loving the church means “having the courage to take difficult and anguished choices, always having in mind the good of the church and not oneself.”

According to Mark Memmott of NPR “tens of thousands of people toting banners saying ‘Grazie!’ — ‘thank you’ — jammed the piazza to bid farewell to the pope at his final general audience — the appointment he has kept each week to teach the world about the Catholic faith.”

The Whispers in the Loggia blog, that follows Vatican news closely, says as many as 200,000 people may have been gathered in the square.

John Allen, senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, told CNN that most of the 100+ cardinals who will cast votes for the next pope are already in Rome. He believes they will meet Monday in what’s known as a “general congregation” to set a date for the conclave — the session at which they vote for a pope. Allen expects the conclave will start “sometime around the 8th or 9th of March.” The cardinals’ goal will be to have a pope chosen before Palm Sunday, which this year falls on March 24.

We shall wait, and follow the will of God, even if Benedict concluded his speech revealing us that sometimes “the Lord seemed to sleep.”

The coalition’s leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib announced Monday on Facebook that his group will now attend the Friends of Syria meeting after consultations with its members and others, as well as based on remarks by senior diplomats from the United States and the UK.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in remarks in Berlin today that Syrian rebels should be given aid if President Bashar al- Assad refuses to join talks and goes on killing his own people.

Initially, the Syrian National Coalition threatened to boycott the Friends of Syria meeting to protest what it sees as a lack of effective action from the international community.

For his part, Syria’s foreign minister has said that his government is ready to hold talks with all parties, including armed rebels who want dialogue to end the crisis in the country .

Walid al-Muallem made the comments on Monday in Moscow before talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

The unrest began in March 2011, when al-Assad’s government began a brutal crackdown on protesters calling for the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad.

The protest movement eventually evolved into an armed conflict, one that has cost the lives of more than 70,000 Syrians to flee to neighboring nations, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency.

Over an eight-week period from mid-December, 255,000 Syrians fled their country. Out of the 860,000 refugee total, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey are together sheltering 97 per cent of them.

Humanitarian agencies are trying to keep up with the rising needs. The World Food Programme is scaling up to meet the needs of 2.5 million people by April.

Yesterday opened in Rome a two-day OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) conference on supporting democratic transition and political reforms through economic co-operation in the Southern Mediterranean region.

The 2012 OSCE Mediterranean Conference brings together 130 representatives of the 56 OSCE participating States and the six Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation – Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia – as well as from other OSCE partner countries, and several relevant international and non-governmental organizations.

As posted on the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website today, the Italian Under-secretary of Foreign Affairs, Staffan Domingo de Mistura opened the conference on behalf of the host country, and highlighted the OSCE’s vision in establishing the Partnership more than a decade ago.

He stated: “We all have perception of the Arab Spring and its implications in the international agenda nowadays. But if we look back at the 1996, when the Partnership was set up, we can say OSCE was farsighted. Farsighted enough to believe that its role and its experience in the democratic transition since the Nineties could be extended to the Southern Mediterranean Countries.”

He also stressed how “As for euro-mediterranean cooperation, we appreciate the key role played by the 5+5 Dialogue, whose recent Summit represented the occasion to reaffirm our common will to reinforce political dialogue between the two shores of the Mediterranean, on the basis of the shared values of democracy, freedom and respect for human rights.”

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier commented: “I am personally committed to making our partnership more operational and dynamic. We are currently exploring options for action-oriented and results based co-operation with the Mediterranean partnership in a number of areas where the OSCE can offer substantial expertise and experience.”

Participants will discuss economic and social challenges in the region, as well as OSCE best practices in enhancing economies, co-operation on sustainable energy including renewable energy sources, OSCE experience in addressing transnational threats to security, and enhancing the participation of women in political and public life.