Member states of “Friends of Syria” on Sunday recognized the oppositional Syrian National Council as “a legitimate representative” of Syrians according to Reuters quoting a communique.
The group is said to be preparing its final statement at the second “Friends of Syria” conference in Istanbul which saw the participation of more than 70 countries in an attempt to address the year-old Syrian crisis.
A diplomat, who was involved in drafting the final communiqué, said the group would work on additional measures to protect the Syrian people, adding that the U.N. Security Council should play an important role in ending the conflict.
The communique also says that the time frame for President Bashar al-Assad to implement commitments made to international envoy Kofi Annan cannot be “open ended” Reuters reported.
The head of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi also called on participants of the conference to “simultaneously call on the Security Council to take a binding decision ... to stop the violence in Syria.”
The representatives also agreed to support the legitimate measures that protesters have taken to protect themselves and urged a halt to arms shipments to the Assad government.
As fighting on the ground killed at least 50 people on Sunday according to Al Arabiya and the Damascus regime said it had no immediate plans to pull back its forces, Turkey warned the world would have no choice but to recognize Syrians' right to take up arms if the U.N. fails to act.
“If United Nations Security Council refrains from taking on the responsibility, the international community will have no chance but to accept Syrians' right to self-defiance,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said as he opened the conference.
Salaries for opposition fighters
The statement came after the leader of the SNC called on the international community to recognize the group as the sole representative of the Syrian people.
“We want the recognition of the SNC as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people,” SNC leader Burhan Ghalioun told the conference.
Ghalioun also announced that the group would pay for the salaries of all rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
“The SNC will take charge of the payment of fixed salaries of all officers, soldiers, and others who are members of the Free Syrian Army,” said Ghalioun.
Clinton on Assad’s ‘broken promises’
Together we must further isolate the regime, cut off its funds and squeeze its ability to wage war on its own people
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Addressing the conference, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Assad’s regime is adding to a “long list of broken promises” by launching new assaults on Syrian cities and towns.
Clinton told participants in Istanbul that Assad had promised to implement U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan but instead was launching new attacks on Syrian cities and denying delivery of aid.
“Our message must be clear to those who give the orders and those who carry them out: Stop killing your fellow citizens or you will face serious consequences,” Clinton said.
She also said the United States was providing communications equipment to Syria’s civilian opposition.
She called for intensifying pressure from an array of U.S., European, Canadian, Arab and Turkish sanctions on Syria.
“Together we must further isolate the regime, cut off its funds and squeeze its ability to wage war on its own people,” she said.
To make the sanctions more effective, a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity said, Clinton wants to establish a “clearing house of information on who is shipping arms, money to Assad to assist him in his killing” or evading sanctions.
She told delegates that she and her Gulf Arab counterparts who met in Riyadh on Saturday are urging Annan to produce a “timeline for next steps” if Assad fails to stop the bloodshed in line with the peace plan.
Annan’s plan calls for a commitment to stop all armed violence, a daily two-hour humanitarian ceasefire, media access to all areas affected by the fighting, an inclusive Syrian-led political process, a right to demonstrate, and release of arbitrarily detained people.
Damascus blasts meeting
The call by (Prince) Saud al-Faisal to arm the terrorists, encourage the bloodbath and destroy infrastructure makes the conference a platform for the enemies of Syria, who are discussing everything but the interests of the Syrians
Al-Baath newspaper
Damascus blasted the Istanbul gathering and referred to it as a “platform for the enemies of Syria.”
“Only the naive and those who want to see through the eyes of the Americans believe that this is a conference for the friends of the Syrian people,” said Al-Baath newspaper, a pro-Assad publication.
“The call by (Prince) Saud al-Faisal to arm the terrorists, encourage the bloodbath and destroy infrastructure makes the conference a platform for the enemies of Syria, who are discussing everything but the interests of the Syrians,” it added.
The paper was responding to calls on Saturday by Saudi foreign minister in which he said “arming the opposition is a duty” because it is unable to defend itself, despite the opposition of Washington and other Western and Arab states to the idea.
But the Damascus daily accused those attending the Istanbul gathering of seeking to weaken Syria.
“This is a regional and international offensive to find ways of killing still more Syrians, and ruining their society and their state, to weaken Syria and transform it into a country resembling those that pander to Washington, Paris, London and Tel Aviv.”
The TV channel also lashed out at Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, who also spoke at the start of the meeting.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/04/01/204594.html
