Opposition chief wants help
DOHA, Qatar — The newly elected leader of Syria’s main opposition group slammed the international community Saturday for what he called inaction, saying fighters are in desperate need of weapons to break the stalemate with President Bashar Assad’s forces.
George Sabra’s comments came as his Syrian National Council struggled with other opposition groups to try to form a cohesive and more representative leadership as rebels step up attacks against government forces.
Two suicide car bombers struck a military camp in the southern city of Daraa on Saturday, killing at least 20 government soldiers and sparking clashes in the area, activists said.
Bombings targeting state security institutions have become frequent in recent months, raising Western fears that extremists fighting with the rebels could gain influence. It is one reason the rebels’ foreign backers are wary of providing weapons.
The United States also has become increasingly frustrated with the opposition’s inability to overcome deep divisions and rivalries in order to present a single conduit for foreign support.
Sabra, who was elected by the council Friday, said the international community should support the opposition and send arms without conditions, rather than linking aid to an overhaul of the leadership.
The Syrian opposition may have many foreign friends, he said in an interview, “but unfortunately we get nothing from them, except some statements, some encouragement.” The Assad government “has few friends, but these friends give the regime everything,” he added, referring to allies Russia, China and Iran.
Sabra, 65, headed the council delegation Saturday in talks in the Qatari capital of Doha on a Western-backed proposal that would give the group only about onethird of 60 seats on a leadership panel to make room for more activists from inside Syria, including those fighting on the front lines.