France became the first European power to recognise Syria’s new opposition coalition as the sole representative of its people and said it would look into arming rebels against President Bashar Assad once they form a government. Twenty months into their bloody uprising against Assad, fragmented Syrian opposition groups struck a deal in Qatar to form a broad coalition and their leader immediately appealed for European backing. “I announce today that France recognises the Syrian national coalition as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people and as future government of a democratic Syria making it possible to bring an end to Bashar Assad’s regime,” French President Francois Hollande said, breaking ranks with European allies.
Six Gulf Arab states took a similar step. The question of arming the rebels would be looked at as soon as the rebel coalition formed a transitional government, Hollande said. Arab League and EU foreign ministers meeting in Cairo welcomed the formation of the coalition as an important step forward, although their communique showed they had not reached a unanimous decision to recognise it as Syria’s sole authority. The French announcement came just hours after Syria’s newly installed opposition leader urged European states to back the opposition so it could buy weapons.