European Union foreign ministers dealt a new blow to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime yesterday, saying they viewed Syria’s just-formed National Coalition as “legitimate representatives” of Syria’s people.

A statement issued by the bloc’s 27 ministers after a day of talks welcomed the November 11 formation of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.

“The EU considers them legitimate representatives of the aspirations of the Syrian people. This agreement represents a major step towards the necessary unity of the Syrian opposition,” it said.

“The EU looks forward to this new coalition continuing to work for full inclusiveness, subscribing to the principles of human rights and democracy and engaging with all opposition groups and sections of Syrian society.

“The EU stands ready to support this new Coalition in these endeavours and is relations with the international community,” it said.

France, which last week became the first Western country to recognise the Coalition as sole representative of the Syrian people, had urged fellow EU nations to follow in its footsteps.

Yesterday’s statement was a step short of the French stance.

Italy however joined France yesterday in full recognition of the group, with Britain expected to clarify its position in a parliamentary debate today.

The National Coalition was formed in Qatar after 20 months of conflict that activists say has killed more than 39,000 people.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said at the close of the meeting that all his EU counterparts had expressed “much sympathy vis-a-vis the Coalition”.

“I think we will invite the Coalition leaders to our next meeting (in December) to allow them to talk to all of the foreign ministers, which will be highly symbolic,” Fabius said.

But as clashes raged across Syria, the main Islamist groups in the northern city of Aleppo said they rejected the National Coalition.

“We, the fighting squads of Aleppo city and province, unanimously reject the conspiratorial project called the National Coalition and announce our consensus to establish an Islamic state” in Syria, a spokesman said in an Internet video posted yesterday.

But Abdel Jabbar al-Okaidi, the head of the main rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Aleppo, said the statement did not represent the opinion of all rebel groups in the province.

l Nato said yesterday it would urgently consider a request from Turkey to deploy Patriot anti-missile batteries on its border with Syria.

Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the 28-member alliance, which includes Turkey, had received no formal request from Ankara, but that if one was made “we will consider that as a matter of urgency”.

“The situation on the Syria-Turkey border is of great concern,” said Rasmussen. “We have all the plans ready to defend and protect Turkey if needed. The plans will be adjusted if necessary to ensure effective protection of Turkey.”

 

Related Story