Khatib Urges U.S. to Reconsider Al-Nusra Blacklisting
The opposition National Coalition, newly recognized by Washington as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, on Wednesday urged the U.S. to review its blacklisting of the jihadist Al-Nusra Front.
"The decision to blacklist one of the groups fighting the regime as a terrorist organization must be re-examined," the bloc's leader, Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, said at a meeting in Morocco of the Friends of Syria group that includes the United States.
"We can have ideological and political differences with certain parties, but the revolutionaries all share the same goal: to overthrow the criminal regime" of President Bashar Assad.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama recognized the National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the nation's people. It also blacklisted as a terrorist group the al-Qaida-linked Al-Nusra Front, which U.S. officials fear seeks to hijack the revolution.
Khatib's comments came after strong criticism of the U.S. move by a key mainstream rebel commander on the ground and by the influential Muslim Brotherhood, which is an important component of the opposition coalition.
Source: Agence France Presse
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