RIYADH – A convoy of trucks left Riyadh for Syrian refugee camps in Jordan Thursday evening carrying the first batch of aid from a 10-day national appeal that has so far raised $125 million. Saudi Arabia has led Arab diplomatic efforts to isolate the government of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad over his suppression of a 16-month-old rebellion against his rule. The Saudi Press Agency reported late Wednesday that the campaign, which was launched by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, with a $5.3 million donation last Monday, had raised SR468 million ($125 million). The 43 aid trucks assembled in a shopping mall car park in northern Riyadh before the sunset prayer, loaded with food, medicine and clothing under orange tarpaulins. The drivers wore white T-shirts bearing the campaign logo, along with matching baseball caps. To one side a tent had been erected with a buffet inside for the sunset breaking of the Ramadan fast, after which they set off on the roughly six-day journey to the camps along Jordan's border with Syria. Campaign director, Mubarak Said Al-Baker, said dozens of volunteers were traveling with the trucks to assist in the distribution of the aid. The trucks were marked with the slogan “Saudi Kingdom of humanity” in English and Arabic along the sides, while the cabs were decorated in more ornamental style with flags, stickers, plastic flowers and the invocation Ma sha'Allah, or “Allah has willed it”. – Reuters