Obama recognizes Syrian opposition Rebels
President Obama said Tuesday that the United States will formally a coalition of Syrian opposition groups to recognize as legitimate country representative, in an attempt to increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad steps to abandon its nearly two years bloody struggle for power continued.
Obama's executive order, in an interview with Barbara Walters from ABC News prior to a meeting in Morocco, the Syrian opposition leaders and their supporters, was generally expected.
But it marks a new phase of U.S. involvement in a bitter conflict that has claimed at least 40,000 lives, threatened the broader Middle East to destabilize and defied all external attempts to end it. The U.S. had a large part of the civil war largely sat on the sidelines, only recently moving more energetic as the opposition fighters started to go - and the radical Islamists play an increasingly important role.
Policy Option
Obama's announcement comes as foreign ministers from 70 countries are preparing to meet in Morocco on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Syria.
The Marrakech meeting will be the first time that the Friends of Syria conference of the Syrian National Coalition is.
American recognition of the coalition, does not mean that the U.S. will begin arming the rebels, but officials told ABC that can be accepted if they thought that helping a political solution in Syria to reach.
Obama warned that the U.S. would not support extremist elements within the opposition period coalition. "Not all who are on earth to participate in matches Assad's people, we are comfortable with," he said.
"There are people who, I think, have an extremist agenda, an anti-American agenda, and we will make clear distinction between these elements."
A group he called - Jabhat al-Nussrah - believed to be linked to al-Qaeda and responsible for almost 600 violent attacks in major Syrian cities over the past year, the U.S. estimates.
President Obama said Tuesday that the United States will formally a coalition of Syrian opposition groups to recognize as legitimate country representative, in an attempt to increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad steps to abandon its nearly two years bloody struggle for power continued.
Obama's executive order, in an interview with Barbara Walters from ABC News prior to a meeting in Morocco, the Syrian opposition leaders and their supporters, was generally expected.
But it marks a new phase of U.S. involvement in a bitter conflict that has claimed at least 40,000 lives, threatened the broader Middle East to destabilize and defied all external attempts to end it. The U.S. had a large part of the civil war largely sat on the sidelines, only recently moving more energetic as the opposition fighters started to go - and the radical Islamists play an increasingly important role.
Policy Option
Obama's announcement comes as foreign ministers from 70 countries are preparing to meet in Morocco on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Syria.
The Marrakech meeting will be the first time that the Friends of Syria conference of the Syrian National Coalition is.
American recognition of the coalition, does not mean that the U.S. will begin arming the rebels, but officials told ABC that can be accepted if they thought that helping a political solution in Syria to reach.
Obama warned that the U.S. would not support extremist elements within the opposition period coalition. "Not all who are on earth to participate in matches Assad's people, we are comfortable with," he said.
"There are people who, I think, have an extremist agenda, an anti-American agenda, and we will make clear distinction between these elements."
A group he called - Jabhat al-Nussrah - believed to be linked to al-Qaeda and responsible for almost 600 violent attacks in major Syrian cities over the past year, the U.S. estimates.
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