Syria opposition bloc to be based in Egypt

AFP CAIRO THE NEWLY formed Syrian opposition bloc that has received Arab and international backing is to be based in Egypt, its head Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib told MENA news agency on Monday.

“It has been decided that the Syrian National Coalition will have its headquarters in Egypt,” Khatib was quoted as saying after talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr.

Amr said Egypt was willing to “offer any assistance to the coalition in the coming phase”.

The National Coalition was formed last week after extensive talks in Doha, Qatar, one of the six Gulf states that have officially recognised it as the representative of the Syrian people, along with France and Turkey. The Arab League has recognised the alliance as “the legitimate representative of the Syrian opposition”.

The coalition aims to present a united front to the international community and is lobbying for weapons and cash to help it topple the regime of President Bashar al Assad. But the main Islamist rebel groups in Aleppo has rejected the bloc and instead called for an Islamic state.

Khatib said the coalition — which brings together 14 groups including the powerful Syrian National Council — would work to include all the holdouts. He said the National Coalition would be holding a meeting in Cairo “within 10 days” and “we will listen to our brothers who have not joined this coalition”. “Many positive steps have been taken... we will talk to brothers for the sake of the Syrian people,” Khatib said.