Syria's political opposition urges U.S. action after Aleppo 'genocide'

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry listens as he testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee while on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 8, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The western-backed Syrian opposition called on the United States to give "an appropriate response" to what it said was genocide committed by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, the country's second city.

In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry dated April 8, the head of Syria's National Coalition, Ahmad Jarba, also rejected accusations that rebels had targeted Christians and desecrated holy sites in the province of Latakia, on the Mediterranean coast.