In its ongoing efforts to oust
Syrian President Bashar Assad, the US has taken a new tone, with Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton calling for a re-shaping of the Syrian opposition's
leadership and dismissing the Syrian National Council.
Speaking on Wednesday, Clinton said
Washington was suggesting names and organizations that should be included in
the new leadership that may emerge in the talks held next week in Qatari
capital.
The Secretary of State was
dismissive of the Syrian National Council (SNC) holding a leading role.The move
has been interpreted as a sign that the Obama administration has grown
disillusioned with the Paris-based group of exiled regime opponents, for
failing to gain support from rebel factions.
“We've made it clear that the SNC
can no longer be viewed as the visible leader of the opposition,” she said.
Clinton claims the leadership
should represent those who are fighting on the Syrian frontlines.
“This cannot be an opposition
represented by people who have many good attributes but have in many instances
not been inside Syria for 20, 30 or 40 years,” she told reporters. “There has
to be a representation of those who are on the front lines fighting and dying
today to obtain their freedom. And there needs to be an opposition leadership
structure that is dedicated to representing and protecting all Syrians.”
The Syrian opposition is composed
of a variety of rebel groups, some of which have reportedly been infiltrated by
radical Islamists linked to Al-Qaeda.
The shift of policy by Washington
reflects the Obama administration’s apparent willingness to hold a leading role
in the efforts to remove Assad from power, as Syrian opposition forces are set
to meet next week in Doha.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov said the ousting of the Syrian president will do nothing
to end the 19-month civil war in the county but will only escalate the
violence.
“It is like daydreaming to
speculate on the subject, to the effect that if the [Syrian] government is
overthrown everything will fall into place,” Lavrov said after a meeting with
his French counterpart Laurent Fabius as quoted by RIA Novosti news agency. “If
this is a priority for somebody, bloodshed will continue, and for quite a
while, too.”
“Assad’s fate should be decided by
the Syrian people,” he added.
In a nod to skeptics, Clinton noted
that it was no secret that many in Syria, especially minority groups, are
fearful about the prospects of Assad's government being replaced by a Sunni-led
opposition.
“They have no love lost for the
Assad regime but they worry, rightly so, about the future,'' she said
Wednesday. “So there needs to be an opposition that speaks to every segment and
every geographic part of Syria.''
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