* Western powers reluctant to supply weapons
* Rebels close in on Damascus
* Obama announces U.S. will recognise Syrian opposition
coalition
By Samia Nakhoul and Khaled Yacoub Oweis
MARRAKECH, Morocco, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Major powers are set
to give Syria’s opposition full political recognition on
Wednesday but not the weapons that rebel fighters need to
counter President Bashar al-Assad’s superior firepower as they
gain ground across the country.
The “Friends of Syria,” a loose forum of governments opposed
to Assad, will meet in the Moroccan city of Marrakech as the
rebels intensify their push on Damascus and signs grow that the
20-month uprising may be nearing a tipping point.
President Barack Obama announced on U.S. television on the
eve of the Marrakech talks that Washington would now recognise
the newly formed coalition of opposition groups as Syria’s
legitimate representative, which could intensify the pressure
for Assad to relinquish power.
“We’ve made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition
is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough
of the Syrian population, that we consider them the legitimate
representative of the Syrian people in opposition to the Assad
regime,” Obama said in an interview with ABC News.
However, his announcement stopped short of authorizing the
United States to supply weapons to Syria’s opposition –
something Obama has steadfastly refused to do.
“All indications on the ground signal the end of the regime
of Bashar al-Assad,” leading opposition figure Riad Seif told
Reuters. “We expect this meeting to fully recognise the
coalition as the sole representative of the Syrian people.”
Fighting is moving closer to Assad’s residence in the centre
of Damascus. Rebels clashed with his forces on Monday in a
district close to the Rawda palace, exchanging fire as
pedestrians ducked for cover.
The mainly Sunni Muslim rebels have scored a string of
victories against Assad’s forces, many of them from his Alawite
religious minority. There is little evidence that the government
is regaining control, residents say.
Assad’s forces are using warplanes and heavy artillery to
try to halt further advances by rebels, many of them die-hard
Islamists. Opposition leaders say they need heavy weapons to
sustain the momentum and change the military equation in a
conflict which has killed 40,000 people since March 2011.
The two sides battled near Damascus airport, about 25 km (15
miles) southeast of the palace. The fighting is part of a
broader confrontation between Assad’s troops and the rebels who
hold a near continuous arc of territory from the east to the
southwest of his power base.
Damascus residents are facing power cuts and food shortages
as they try to prepare for winter. In central Syria an attack on
a village killed or injured as many as 200 members of Assad’s
Alawite minority sect, activists said, but it was unclear who
was behind the assault.
Assad’s political and armed opponents, dogged by splits and
rivalries throughout their battle to end his family’s 42-year
rule, have established a more unified political opposition and
military command, hoping to win international support.
France, Britain, Turkey and the Gulf states have already
granted the formal recognition. The European Union, in a meeting
on Monday, moved a step closer towards recognition and the
United States has suggested it could also endorse the coalition.
But the opposition also needs weapons. “We are telling the
international community that we don’t want their military
intervention but we want them to supply us with a developed
anti-aircraft defence systems,” Seif said. “The Syrian people
can finish off the battle within weeks if we get this support.”
Little in the way of direct military or financial support is
expected to be channelled to the coalition at the Morocco
meeting, partly because it lacks the ability to act as a
provisional government and because Western powers are still wary
of backing Islamist fighters in the rebel ranks.
‘JOCKEYING FOR POSITION’
A diplomat attending the meeting said there had been much
“jockeying for position within the coalition without addressing
the main political issues,” including making arrangements to
work with Syria’s Alawite, Kurdish and Christian minorities and
creating a framework for transitional justice.
As delegates arrived in Marrakech, the United States
announced it had designated the radical Islamist rebel group
Jabhat al-Nusra – which has claimed responsibility for dozens of
car bombs and fights alongside other rebel Syrian brigades – as
a terrorist organisation.
Farouk Tayfour, deputy leader of the Syrian Sunni Muslim
Brotherhood, said Washington had made a “very wrong and hasty
decision”.
The fighting has driven hundreds of thousands of Syrians
into neighbouring countries and the United Nations High
Commission for Refugees said more than half a million were
either registered or awaiting registration in the region.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will miss the
Marrakech meeting but is sending her deputy William Burns to
accelerate the process of helping the opposition.
U.S. arms supplies for rebels remain off the table for now,
reflecting Washington’s wariness of the rising influence of
radical Islamists and reluctance to intervene directly in the
conflict.
While Western powers are holding back, Qatar and Saudi
Arabia are arming and financing the Muslim Brotherhood and other
militant groups while Iran is bankrolling Assad.
Western governments, observers say, could tip the balance of
power by channelling anti-aircraft and tank weapons to selected
rebel units – not those with an Islamist agenda.
Many opposition figures said the “Friends of Syria” meeting
is falling short of their hopes for military help.
“Diplomatic recognition is not enough. We need military
support. A transitional phase has started and we need the means
to defend the liberated parts of Syria from regime strikes,”
coalition member Abdelbasset Sida told Reuters.
“We are nearing the end. Battles in Damascus are drawing
very near to the inner sanctum of the regime and I do not expect
Bashar to last for long,” he said.
Syrian opposition campaigner Walid al-Bunni said that after
many meetings, the “Friends of Syria” had to show willingness to
depose Assad and end the bloody conflict.
“Every week of delay means the destruction of villages and
parts of cities and towns and the killing of an average of 1,000
people,” said Bunni, one of a few members of the coalition not
allied with the Brotherhood.
“Recognition of the coalition will help but it will not end
the crisis. There needs to be real international will to stand
by the Syrian people and get rid them of this dictatorship.”
