FM Davutoğlu hails Syrian opposition deal

DOHA

AA Photo

Foreign governments no longer have any excuse to avoid supporting Syria’s opposition after dissidents broadened the opposition’s scope with a hard-won unity agreement signed yesterday in Doha, Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoğlu has said.

Worries over the opposition’s divisions have been addressed with the deal, meaning that the dissidents now require full backing, the minister said.

"The Friends of Syria ... should support this agreement. ... There is no excuse anymore," Reuters quoted him as saying. "All those who support the rightful struggle of the Syrian people should declare clear support for this agreement and be more active."

Syrian anti-government groups struck a deal yesterday under intense international pressure to form a new opposition leadership that will include representatives from the country’s disparate factions fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The United States, France and Qatar also hailed the agreement.

"No regime can survive by raging a war on its own people," Davutoğlu told the closing session of the meeting which saw the formation of the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces.

The foreign minister thanked representatives of the groups for their contributions in the forming of the new leadership, Anatolia news agency reported. "Today is a historic day, and tomorrow will bring a new beginning. I would like to herald that the Syrian representatives have agreed on a new road map. They will garner their legitimacy from the Syrian people."