Milestone as opposition takes Syria’s seat at Arab League summit

In a ceremonious entrance accompanied by applause, a delegation led by Mouaz al-Khatib, the former president of the main opposition alliance – the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition – took the seats assigned for Syria at the invitation of Qatar’s emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

The decision for the opposition to take Syria’s seat was made at the recommendation of Arab foreign ministers earlier this week in the Qatari capital, Doha. The Arab League in 2011 suspended the Syrian government’s membership of the organisation in punishment for the regime’s crackdown on opponents.

The Qatari ruler, who chairs the summit, said the Syrian opposition deserves “this representation because of the popular legitimacy they have won at home and the broad support they won abroad and the historic role they have assumed in leading the revolution and preparing for building the new Syria”.

The diplomatic triumph and Qatar’s praise, however, could 
not conceal the disarray within the top ranks of the Syrian opposition.

Besides Mr al-Khatib, the Syrian delegation included Ghassan Hitto, recently elected prime minister of a planned interim government to administer rebel-held areas in Syria and two prominent opposition figures, George Sabra and Suheir Atassi.

Addressing the gathering, Mr al-Khatib thanked the Arab League for granting the seat to the opposition. “It is part of the restoration of legitimacy that the people of Syria have long been robbed of,” he said.

He lamented the inaction of several foreign governments, which he did not name, toward the Syrian crisis and spoke emotionally of the suffering of the civilians in his country.

He also defended the presence in Syria of foreign jihadis, saying the militants were there to help defend a people under attack but added that those more needed by their families in their own countries should leave.

Even as rebel fighters gain more territory on the ground in their fight against Assad’s troops, their mostly exile political leadership has been thrown into disarray. Mr al-Khatib announced his resignation on Sunday because of what he described as restrictions on his work and frustration with the level of international aid for the opposition. The coalition rejected it and Mr al-Khatib said he would discuss the issue later and represent the opposition at the Qatar summit “in the name of the Syrian people”.

In Damascus, the government yesterday blasted the Arab League’s move to allow the opposition to take its seat at the Doha summit, portraying it as a selling-out of Arab identity to please Israel and the United States.

The government says the conflict is an international conspiracy to weaken Syria being carried out by terrorists on the ground.

Meanwhile, government forces have seized control of an area of the central city of Homs which is a symbol of opposition to Assad’s regime, Syrian activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces pushed rebels out of the Baba Amr area after two weeks of clashes, shelling and air strikes which destroyed many homes.

The Syrian state news agency said yesterday that government forces had “restored security and stability” to the neighbourhood.

Baba Amr, a poor district, emerged early in the uprising as a symbol of the rebel movement, first for its protests and later for the armed groups who held it against regime troops.

It changed hands a number of times since.