Austria Won't Say Syrian Opposition 'Sole Representative'
Austria on Thursday distanced itself from an international statement recognizing Syria's opposition National Coalition as the sole representative of the Syrian people, defending instead the more general EU line.
At a "Friends of Syria" meeting Wednesday in Marrakech, Moroccan Foreign Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani, apparently speaking for all participants, endorsed the National Coalition as "the sole representative of the Syrian people."
This statement "was not a resolution that was adopted (by all participants) but a statement by the chairing country," Austria's foreign ministry said Thursday.
"We're sticking to that which was agreed by the (European) Council on Monday," ministry spokesman Martin Weiss told AFP.
"Our position remains that the National Coalition is a legitimate representative of the Syrian people, nothing more, nothing less," he went on.
Uncertainty about the newly-formed opposition's political program and whether it really represented the Syrian population, including certain minorities, were grounds for caution, the ministry also said.
EU foreign ministers declared Monday that the "EU accepts as legitimate representatives of the Syrian people" the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, after meeting with its head, Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib.
While Britain and France have extended full recognition to the group -- which could allow Western powers to arm rebel forces seeking to oust President Bashar Assad -- several EU member states still have reservations.
On Wednesday in Marrakech, representatives from 114 countries, including about 60 ministers, called on Assad to stand down and stressed his regime would not escape punishment for violations of international law.
Some 42,000 people have been killed in 21 months of bloody conflict, while the number of Syrian refugees who have fled to neighboring states and North Africa has now passed half a million, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
Source: Agence France Presse
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