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DAMASCUS: Syria’s new opposition chief on Tuesday called on world powers to arm President Bashar al-Assad’s foes, as Arab and EU leaders urged his coalition to seek broader support inside the war-torn country.
While fierce clashes raged across the country, France joined Arab states of the Gulf in pushing for international recognition of the newly-formed opposition alliance.
National Coalition leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib urged world powers to arm rebels with “specialised weapons” as they desperately needed arms to “cut short the suffering of the Syrians and their bloodshed.”
His organisation, formed on Sunday after marathon meetings in Qatar, was representative of most opposition groups, he also told AFP. “Many groups have joined. Some have reservations, and we are in touch with everyone. The vast majority has joined. It is the strongest coalition and represents Syria internally,” he said in a telephone interview in Cairo.
Earlier on Tuesday, Khatib met French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius at a Cairo hotel.
Fabius and European Union chief Catherine Ashton have expressed support for the National Coalition but have stopped short of formal recognition, a move that could facilitate more aid to the rebels.
The French minister later said his country would play a leading role in seeking recognition for the National Coalition.
“Our hope is that the different countries recognise the Syrian National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people... France’s role is to make that hope possible,” he reporters in Cairo.
European Union foreign ministers meeting in Cairo welcomed the bloc and urged it to bring in more regime dissenters.
“We want to see that they have support inside Syria. That is a very crucial consideration, British Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters. The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council has already recognised the National Coalition as “the Syrian people’s legitimate representative.”
While fierce clashes raged across the country, France joined Arab states of the Gulf in pushing for international recognition of the newly-formed opposition alliance.
National Coalition leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib urged world powers to arm rebels with “specialised weapons” as they desperately needed arms to “cut short the suffering of the Syrians and their bloodshed.”
His organisation, formed on Sunday after marathon meetings in Qatar, was representative of most opposition groups, he also told AFP. “Many groups have joined. Some have reservations, and we are in touch with everyone. The vast majority has joined. It is the strongest coalition and represents Syria internally,” he said in a telephone interview in Cairo.
Earlier on Tuesday, Khatib met French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius at a Cairo hotel.
Fabius and European Union chief Catherine Ashton have expressed support for the National Coalition but have stopped short of formal recognition, a move that could facilitate more aid to the rebels.
The French minister later said his country would play a leading role in seeking recognition for the National Coalition.
“Our hope is that the different countries recognise the Syrian National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people... France’s role is to make that hope possible,” he reporters in Cairo.
European Union foreign ministers meeting in Cairo welcomed the bloc and urged it to bring in more regime dissenters.
“We want to see that they have support inside Syria. That is a very crucial consideration, British Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters. The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council has already recognised the National Coalition as “the Syrian people’s legitimate representative.”
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