NATO said on Tuesday, March 26, it has no intention of intervening militarily in Syria after a Syrian opposition leader said the United States should use Patriot missiles to protect rebel-held areas from President Bashar Assad's airpower, Reuters reported.

"NATO has no intention to intervene militarily in Syria," a NATO official said after opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib said he had asked U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for American forces to help defend rebel-controlled northern parts of Syria with Patriots.

Three NATO countries have sent Patriot surface-to-air missile batteries to Turkey to protect its cities from possible attack from Syria.