Saudi Arabia's foreign minister says the only way to stop civilian casualties in the Syria conflict is to give weapons to antigovernment groups.

Saud al-Faisal spoke to NHK in Jeddah on Wednesday.

He said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has refused enormous efforts to create a peaceful transition of government.

He said the international community should provide any means to help Syrian people protect themselves from attacks by government forces.

Western nations are reluctant to supply weapons to the opposition out of fear they could fall into the hands of Islamic militants fighting the government.

But the foreign minister said the West is allowing the extremists to win influence because of the weapons shortage.

May 1, 2013 - Updated 20:09 UTC