Rome: Italy would be ready to send military forces to Syria if President Bashar al-Assad is toppled, Italian Defence Minister Giampaolo Di Paola has said.
"Italy has the ability to do it," Di Paola said in an interview to Rai state television.
"I think that the international community would have to contribute," he said, stressing that he was not endorsing intervention.
Di Paola`s comments followed a meeting of Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi and other government officials to make plans for what they dubbed the "post Assad" period.
The Italian foreign ministry in a statement said the most important issue will be humanitarian aid, which includes helping the 200,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Jordan, as well as 1.5 million internally displaced people within Syrian borders.
IANS
