Newly arrived Syrian refugees walk on the side of a road after crossing the border into Turkey on Wednesday near Kilis. Nearly half of Syria's population needs urgent humanitarian help as the situation deteriorates due to armed conflict, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Western and Gulf Arab nations pledged over $2.4 billion in UN aid efforts to Syria on Wednesday, as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned at a donor conference in Kuwait that nearly half of Syria's population needs urgent humanitarian help.

The UN is asking for $6.5 billion, the largest in UN history for one crisis. The world body estimates that the three years of civil war has reversed development gains in Syria by 35 years.

The World Food Program Tuesday said that it needs to raise $35 million every week to meet the food needs of people both inside Syria and in neighboring countries.

Kuwait's ruling emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, promised $500 million in fresh assistance, while the US announced a contribution of $380 million. Qatar pledged $60 million and Saudi Arabia $250 million. The EU as a whole pledged $753 million and Britain $164 million.

Li Weijian, director for the Institute of Foreign Policy Studies under the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, acknowledged the US and EU efforts in leading international humanitarian aid to Syria, but pointed out the West is partly responsible for the situation.

"Their support for the opposition side in effect intensified conflicts between the Syrian government and the opposition militants," Li said.

Ban told the gathering on Wednesday he hoped the Geneva II peace talks due to start on January 22 would bring the Syrian government and opposition to the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, Syria's deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad Wednesday told the BBC the intelligence services of some Western countries opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have visited Damascus to discuss security cooperation with his government.

Western powers have supported the opposition with rhetoric but backed away from material aid as they are worried over the growing influence of Al Qaeda-linked groups, observers said.

"Islamist militants became active recently in the region as the Al Qaeda organization in Iraq occupied Fallujah. For the US and some Arab countries, the stability of the Middle East seems more important," said Li.