US blacklist of Syrian group

Syrian opposition urges US to 're-examine' blacklisting of 'terrorist group'

The leader of Syria’s new opposition group, the National Coalition, says Washington “must reconsider” its decision to blacklist one of the alliance’s members. It comes as the US agrees to accept the coalition as Syria's official opposition group.

RT,

12 December, 2012

Washington has branded the jihadist Al-Nusra Front as a terrorist organization, saying it is trying to hijack the Syrian uprising on behalf of Al-Qaeda in Iraq
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US officials say the group has claimed responsibility for carrying out nearly 600 attacks that have killed numerous Syrians during the country’s 20-month uprising against President Bashar Assad.
 

“Washington’s decision to call the Al-Nusra Front terrorists is seen as more of a symbolic move because many other fighters in Syria welcome the efforts of those designated terrorists,” RT correspondent Gayane Chichakyan said.

Symbolic or not, the decision to blacklist the group has been deemed hypocritical since the US has agreed to acknowledge the National Coalition – of which the Al-Nusra Front is a member – as the country’s official opposition group.

The move has also angered opposition leaders. 
 

"The decision to blacklist one of the groups fighting the regime as a terrorist organization must be re-examined," the bloc's leader Ahmed Moaz Khatib said at the Friends of Syria meeting in Morocco.

The decision comes after reports that the US is launching a covert operation to supply the Syrian opposition with weapons for the very first time.

If the reports are true, it could mean the US will be supplying the National Coalition with a number of weapons, including SA-7 missiles, which can shoot down planes. Furthermore, it would mean the US is supplying arms to a group which it has openly labeled a terrorist organization.

However, Khatib says any weapons that find themselves in the hands of the opposition will be used for one sole purpose – to overthrow the Assad government.

"We might disagree with some parties and their ideas and their political and ideological vision. But we affirm that all the guns of the rebels are aimed at overthrowing the tyrannical criminal regime," he said.

Syrian opposition members have recently asked for increased military assistance.

"We need not only bread to help our people. We need support for our Syrian army. We need to speed up things and get rid of this regime,” opposition member Saleem Abdul Aziz al Meslet told AP. 

 

Friends of Syria

Representatives from more than 100 countries, including the US, Britain, France, and Gulf countries, gathered in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh on Wednesday to affirm their support for the National Coalition.

The meeting came one day after US President Barack Obama said the coalition “is now inclusive enough" to be deemed the sole "legitimate representative."

Conference members also announced new humanitarian assistance for Syrians, including $100 million from Saudi Arabia and a fund for the reconstruction of the country after Assad falls. The fund will be managed by Germany.

The National Coalition was formed after Washington and other western governments criticized the opposition for its lack of unity. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for a shakeup of the movement in November.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the recognition of the coalition contradicts international agreements aimed at starting a Syrian dialogue which would include all sides involved in the conflict.

US says will recognize Syria opposition

US President Barack Obama says Washington will recognize the so-called National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as the “legitimate representative of Syrian people.”

US President Barack Obama

Press TV,

12 December, 2012

“At this point we have a well-organized-enough coalition - opposition coalition that is representative - that we can recognize them as the legitimate representative of Syrian people,” he said in an interview with the ABC News on Tuesday.

Analysts say the move fanned the flames of civil war in Syria and that there is going to be further bloodshed of Syrians at the hands of domestic elements and foreign forces as a result.

They also note that the US administration despite having declared the Al-Nusra Front in Syria, which formed in 2011 amid the unrest in the Arab country, a terrorist organization, has moved to the side of al-Qaeda elements, which have come to Syria from other countries to wage war.

Obama’s comments also came following reports that the US administration has decided to provide military assistance, including logistical support and sophisticated weapons, to the militants fighting the Syrian government.

A wide range of modern weapons would also be sent into Syria through the US regional allies, such as Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, reports have said.

The UK, France, Turkey, and the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council have recognized militants fighting the Syrian government.

UK Prime Minster David Cameron has reportedly urged the British military chiefs to draw up plans for provision of air and naval support to militants. The military chiefs had said they would consider such plans only if the US did so.

Syria has been the scene of unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security and Army personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The country says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside, and there are reports that a very large number