LIBYA: NTC officially recognises Syrian opposition council as the legitimate authority after months of unrest against President Bashar Al Assad

Record ID: 276227

  • Title: LIBYA: NTC officially recognises Syrian opposition council as the legitimate authority after months of unrest against President Bashar Al Assad
  • Date: 20th October 2011
  • Summary: TRIPOLI, LIBYA (OCTOBER 19, 2011) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE MEMBERS OF THE OPPOSITION SYRIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL (SOUNDITE) (Arabic) LIBYAN NATIONAL TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL MEMBER HASSAN ALSAGHRET, SAYING: "This is a joint statement to express the recognition of the Syrian National Council and that it came about in response to the Syrian peoples' request for freedom and demo
  • Embargoed: 4th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEEXZV8K37J6X3VSGQ9RNJLLPW
  • Story Text: Libya's Transitional National Council (NTC) officially recognised the Syrian opposition council on Wednesday (October 19) as the legitimate authority in Syria after months of unrest against President Bashar Al Assad.
    In a news conference held in Tripoli, NTC member Hassan Alsaghret said the new Libyan leaders formally recognised the Syrian National Council.
    "This is a joint statement to express the recognition of the Syrian National Council and that it came about in response to the Syrian peoples' request for freedom and democracy," he said.
    Also speaking at the news conference, Dr. Najib Ghadbian, a member of The Syrian National Council's leadership, said his organisation was calling for the protection of the Syrian people, but stopped short of asking for external military intervention.
    "Our main objective is to call for the protection of civilians and this question in fact is different from calling for a military intervention by the outside," he said, "You are right when you mention maybe protecting civilians might include creating a buffer zone, might entail maybe no fly zones. But I think this is different from inviting military intervention and if we do move in that direction it is the responsibility of the regime."
    The Syrian opposition group has called on protests in Syria to remain peaceful in a bid to stop the country sliding into a full blown bloody civil war, like they did in Libya.
    Some Gulf Arab states had withdrawn their ambassadors from Syria, and Syria's National Council also called on other countries "to end relations with the dictatorship in Syria".
    In Syria, tens of thousands of Syrians rallied in support of President Bashar al-Assad in the northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday while to the south his troops carried out a sustained offensive to crush the seven-month uprising against his rule.
    The state-organised gathering in Syria's commercial hub came a week after a similar demonstration in Damascus, showing authorities can still rally mass support in the country's two main cities despite the massive waves of unrest across the nation.
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