Brussels, 12/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Sunday 11 November, Europeans hailed the agreement reached between the different strands of the opposition on the constitution of a national coalition to unify their efforts in the struggle against the regime - unification that has long been demanded by the international community.
Describing this agreement as “an important milestone in forming a broad and representative opposition that reflects the full diversity of the Syrian people”, British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged the national coalition to engage with all sections of Syrian society in preparing the political transition that Syria urgently needs. He also said that the onus is now on the national coalition to choose effective leaders and to appoint an executive that can work with the international community “so that we can deliver more non-lethal assistance”.
Welcoming the agreement as a “major step”¸ French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that his country “would like this coalition to be able to be quickly strengthened, benefitting from the widest possible support of the Syrians, as from the international community”. Fabius said that France is “ready to bring greater assistance to the Syrian people - in close connection with this new coalition - especially as part of the support that it has now supplied for several months to the civil revolutionary councils”.
The leader of the ALDE Group in the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, described the agreement as “a new chapter in the history of the Syrian revolution”. He hailed not only the opposition's unification but also the election of a “diversified and widely respected leadership”. “Now we can no longer accuse the Syrian opposition of being divided and of using this as a reason for inaction. (...) Now it is united, it is time for the international community to unite and stop Assad's madness”, he added.
The different strands of the Syrian opposition signed an agreement in Qatar on Sunday 11 November, which is the “fruit of a compromise after intense negotiations” (our translation throughout). The religious moderate Sheikh Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib was elected president of the new coalition.
The European Union and the Arab League are gathering in Cairo on Tuesday for a meeting at which the situation in Syria will be discussed. A meeting will also take place in London on Friday 16 November with donors and coalition representatives, who will discuss additional support to the Syrian opposition. (CG/transl.fl)