World powers meeting in Marrakech
recognized Syria's new opposition coalition as "the legitimate
representative of the Syrian people" and called on President Bashar
al-Assad to "stand aside", according to a draft declaration obtained
by Reuters on Wednesday.
The declaration by 130 international representatives comprising the
"Friends of Syria" group of nations warned that any use by Assad's
government of chemical or biological weapons would be met by a "serious
response".
For its part, French Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday that it was too early for France to
supply weapons to Syrian rebels trying to oust President Bashar
al-Assad.
"For now we have decided not to
move on this," Fabius told reporters ahead of a Friends of Syria meeting
in Morocco. "We shall see in the coming months."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
on Wednesday against any use of chemical weapons, and said Britain does not
rule out any option to save lives in Syria.
"Syria needs a political transition leading to an inclusive new
government, with full executive authority. This is the course most likely to
achieve stability in the country," he said in a statement.
"But in the United Kingdom we do not rule out any option to save lives.
The Assad regime should not doubt our resolve, or miscalculate how we would
react to any use of chemical or biological weapons against the Syrian
people," he said.
"Syria's President Bashar al-Assad cannot win his 20-month-old battle against an uprising demanding his overthrow and should end the crisis," he added.
"It is time for those in the regime to make the decision to bring this to an end. We say to them: you know you cannot succeed," Hague, who has suggested Assad step down, said at the end of the "Friends of Syria" meeting in Marrakech.
"Of all the meetings we have had so far, this will turn out to be the most significant," he said after the meeting of 130 international representatives who recognized the opposition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people on Wednesday.
For his part, the Syrian opposition
coalition leader Moaz Khatib called on Syria’s Alawites to rise in
"civil disobedience" against President Bachar Assad adding that
he will hold the international community, particularly Russia, responsible if
Assad uses chemical weapons against the Syrian people. He also called on
Iran to withdraw personnel providing assistance to Assad.
He also urged the United States to review its decision to designate the
militant Islamist Jabhat al-Nusra as a terrorist group, saying that religion
was a legitimate motive for rebel fighters.
"The decision to consider a party that is fighting the regime as a
terrorist party needs to be reviewed," Mouaz Alkhatib told a "Friends
of Syria" meeting in Morocco.
"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".
Meanwhile, Qatar urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to accept that
rebels seeking his overthrow would eventually defeat him and called on
him to step down to avoid further bloodshed.
"Please. What happened is enough, you should take the brave decision to
stop this bloodshed, this destruction and withdraw and allow the Syrian
people to form a government and state that they believe is appropriate,"
said Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, Qatar's prime minister and
foreign minister.
"The result is clear, but how much more blood would the Syrians have to
pay to achieve their goal," he told a news conference after a meeting of
the Friends of Syria in Morocco. "I hope that the Syrian leadership
acknowledges the truth. The truth is the truth and the people will win."
On the other hand, President Barack Obama granted US recognition on Tuesday to
the Syrian opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian
people, in a move that aimed at intensifying pressure on Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad to step down.
Obama announced his decision in an interview with ABC News on the eve of a
meeting of Syrian opposition leaders and their international allies in Morocco,
but he stopped short of authorizing US arming of the opposition fighting to
overthrow Assad.
In response, the Russian Foreign
Minister Serguei Lavrov said that Russia considers the US recognition of Syrian
opposition coalition as contradicting with the agreement reached in Geneva in
June to seek political transition. He noted that it appears the US has
"placed all bets on the armed victory" of Syrian opposition coalition
over the government.
A number of short-range ballistic missiles have been launched inside Syria this week, a NATO official said on Wednesday.
"Allied intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets have detected the launch of a number of unguided, short-range ballistic missiles inside Syria this week ... Trajectory and distance travelled indicate they were Scud-type missiles," the official said.
On the ground:
An explosion hit the main gate of the Syrian Interior Ministry in Damascus on Wednesday, state television said.
The ministry is in Kafar Souseh, an area contested between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. A resident said she heard sirens and shooting after a "huge explosion."
Earlier, explosions rocked Damascus where two car bombs exploded in the capital’s center; while
other explosives were detonated on Jermana road, southwestern of the capital,
according to SANA agency.
The agency reported that one person was killed and five others were injured in
Jermana, while one person was wounded in Al-Nasr Street near the Justice Palace
in Damascus.
REUTERS/LBCI
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