GOOD NEWS FOR SYRIAN PEOPLE: GCC recognises new Syrian opposition bloc - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Syria's opposition bloc has yet to be offered the chair left empty after Assad was no longer welcome in Cairo [AFP]

 

The Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) has said its six member states decided to recognise the newly formed National Coalition of the Syrian opposition as the "legitimate representative" of the Syrian people.

The GCC's move came a year after the Arab League suspended Syria's membership, and as the National Coalition met Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Monday, buoyed by the hard-won unity deal.
The Arab League also recognised the newly formed Syrian opposition bloc's role, urging more opposition groups to join the coalition. But their official phrasing was reportedly not as strong as the wording used by the GCC.

"The states of the council announce recognising the National Coalition for the Forces of the Syrian Revolution and Opposition ... as the legitimate representative of the brotherly Syrian people," GCC chief Abdullatif al-Zayani said in a statement on Monday.

The oil-rich bloc, which comprises Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, would support the coalition "in order to achieve the aspirations of the Syrian people in hope that this will be a step towards a quick political transfer of power," Zayani said.

He hoped its formation would lead to ending the bloodshed and "a general national congress to pave the way to build a state ruled by law and open to all its citizens".

Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland, reporting from Cairo, said, "The newly established coalition is now starting to get the recognition it needs from other bodies."

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