MOSCOW/DUBAI, November 13 (RIA Novosti) - The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has recognized the newly formed coalition of the Syrian opposition as the "legitimate representative" of the Syrian people and urged the international community to support this entity.
“The states of the council announce recognizing the National Coalition for the Forces of the Syrian Revolution and Opposition ... as the legitimate representative of the brotherly Syrian people," Al Jazeera quoted GCC chief Abdullatif al-Zayani as saying on Monday.
A number of disparate groups making up the motley Syrian opposition agreed on Sunday to form a unified coalition set to represent all opponents of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, following the talks in Qatari capital Doha, ongoing since the start of the past week.
Coalition members include the Syrian National Council, the most well-known and, arguably, powerful of anti-Assad groups, which received its new leader last week in longtime dissident George Sabra, 65.
The National Coalition for the Forces of the Syrian Revolution and Opposition is expected to manage territories that the rebels took from Assad’s forces, set up a transitional government and handle opposition’s international contacts.
The GCC, made up of Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, expressed hope that the formation of the unified opposition would lead to ending the bloodshed in Syria and “pave the way to build a state ruled by law and open to all its citizens”.
Between 20,000 and 37,000 people, by various estimates, have died in the 20-month-long internal conflict in Syria, where Assad’s regime is struggling to suppress a ragtag, but resilient insurgency opposed to his authoritarian rule.
