A Free Syrian Army fighter positions a cannon inside a house in Jobar, Damascus, yesterday.
DOHA: Syria’s opposition plans to set up an interim government in August to run areas under rebel control, an opposition official said yesterday.
“There is a plan to form a government in exile 10 days after Eid,” said Omar Kouch, a senior leader of the Syrian National Coalition.
“We have more than one candidate for the prime minister post,” he added, following a visit to Qatar by a delegation led by the coalition’s new leader Ahmed Al Jarba.
The exiled opposition wants the US and European countries to supply it with advanced weapons in the civil war against President Bashar Al Assad, and is trying to show them that it is united and credible. It remains unclear, however, how any government in exile would exert authority on the ground among the disparate rebel factions, which include an affiliate of Al Qaeda.
More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria’s civil war and a proposed peace conference, floated in May by the US and Russia, shows no sign of materialising.
The conference is meant to establish a provisional government of national unity, including figures from the opposition and the current authorities, and to pave the way for elections. But plans to hold it June or July unravelled after momentum on the battlefield swung in favour of Assad.
Jarba was quoted by Qatar News Agency (QNA) as saying the coalition realised that a solution to the civil war would require negotiation with the authorities. But he wanted to see changes on the ground in favour of the rebels before any talks could start.
“The Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has affirmed that Qatar will always be with the Syrian people and will never give up supporting Syrians,” he told QNA.
“Now, we will not go to any talks until the Free Syrian Army and the other revolutionary forces are strong on the ground and coherent, as they were eight months ago,” Jarba said.
Reuters
