Syria's "friends" call for Annan to set timeline

Western and Arab nations called on U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan on Sunday to determine a timeline for next steps to persuade President Bashar al-Assad to end the conflict in Syria, including a return to the U.N. Security Council, if the killing continues.
   
The "Friends of Syria" also said, in a final communique obtained by Reuters, that the window of opportunity for Assad to meet his commitments was not open-ended.
   
The group also recognized the Syrian National Council as a legitimate representative of all Syrians, and the main opposition interlocutor with the international community.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Sunday the international community would not allow Assad to "misuse another opportunity", saying current efforts to end the conflict there represented a last chance.
   
Speaking after the "Friends of Syria" conference in Istanbul, Davutoglu told a news conference the international community had been too slow in responding to the Bosnian conflict in the 1990s and it should now act decisively and without delay.

Opening the conference in Istanbul, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told foreign ministers and other officials from some 70 countries that the "legitimate demands of the Syrian people must be met, right here, right now".    

In her prepared remarks, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged members of Assad's government to halt operations targeting civilians, or face "serious consequences".    

She said the United States was providing communications gear among other aid to Syria's civilian opposition, and denounced Assad for failing to follow through on his agreement to a peace plan proposed by U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan.    

"Nearly a week has gone by, and we have to conclude that the regime is adding to its long list of broken promises," she said.    

The United States and its Gulf Arab allies, suspecting Assad of playing for time, urged Annan on Saturday to set a timeline for "next steps" if there was no ceasefire.    

Syrian media derided the Istanbul meeting, which the Baath newspaper described as "a regional and international scramble to find ways of killing more Syrians and destroying their society and country, to reach the broad goal of weakening Syria".    

Around 50 Assad supporters protested outside the conference center, waving Syria, Russian and Chinese flags and brandishing pictures of the Syrian leader. "Allah, Syria, Bashar, that's it" and "Down, down USA" they chanted, before police removed them.    

Gulf Arab countries within the "Friends of Syria" group have pushed for more support to be given to the FSA, formed to fight back after months of violent repression of unarmed protesters.    

SNC leader Burhan Ghalioun pressed the "Friends of Syria" to strengthen the rebel army and open humanitarian corridors for civilians bearing the brunt of Assad's crackdown.    

"Our people are in serious need of humanitarian aid. We are asking for safe corridors. We want the Free Syrian Army to be strengthened," SNC president Burhan Ghalioun told the meeting.    

In a separate statement, the SNC requested communications equipment for the FSA and possibly weapons.    

"The provision of arms is not our preferred option. We know it carries high risks of escalation into civil war but we cannot stand back and watch our people being massacred," it said.    

"We are stepping up our support for the opposition in Syria and they are better coordinated now than they were even a few weeks ago," British Foreign Secretary William Hague told the BBC.    

His French counterpart, Alain Juppe, said France and Turkey both wanted the SNC recognized as "the legitimate representative body of the Syrian people", but acknowledged an absence of consensus on this.

"All the members of the group of Friends of Syria are not on the same line," Juppe said.    

Reuters