BEIRUT — BEIRUT - France on Tuesday became the first Western country to formally recognize Syria’s newly formed opposition coalition as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
The U.S. also recognized the National Syrian Coalition announced in Qatar on Sunday as a legitimate representative, but stopped short of describing it as the “sole” one, saying the group must first demonstrate its ability to represent Syrians inside the country.
The two announcements could start a trend toward world recognition of the rebels as the legitimate government of Syria, undercutting whatever legitimacy the regime of President Bashar Assad still has after 20 months of a bloody civil war.
“We look forward to supporting the national coalition as it charts a course for the end of Assad’s bloody rule and marks the start, we believe, of a peaceful, just and democratic future for the people of Syria,” said State Department spokesman Mark Toner in Washington.
Under intense international pressure to form an opposition that includes representatives from the country’s disparate factions fighting to topple Assad, the anti-government groups struck a deal to form a coalition headed by former Muslim preacher Mouaz al-Khatib.
The coalition includes representatives from the main opposition group, the Syrian National Council, which was harshly criticized by many, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, for being cut off from rebels fighting the war in the country and for failing to forge a cohesive and more representative leadership.
The new group is lobbying the international community for more powerful weapons to break the stalemate with the regime. U.S. and French recognition is seen as a welcome boost, but the opposition still has a long way to go to convince the international community the weapons will not fall into the wrong hands.
Islamic extremists have been taking a more public role in the fighting in Syria, and there is evidence of al-Qaida involvement as well.
“We now have a structure in place that can prepare for a political transition, but we’re looking for it to still establish the types of technical committees that will allow us to make sure our assistance gets to the right places, both nonlethal and humanitarian,” Toner said.
The French decision was announced by President Francois Hollande, who used his first news conference since taking office six months ago to formally recognize the new group.
“I announce here that France recognizes the National Syrian Coalition as the sole representative of the Syrian people and, therefore, as the future provisional government of democratic Syria,” Hollande said.
France, which has played a leading role in efforts to force Assad from power, also was the first to recognize the Syrian National Council. Hollande made no mention of that grouping Tuesday.
France has acknowledged providing communications and other nonlethal equipment to Syrian rebels. It has been a leader in pressing for a tough U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria, but it has been blocked by Russia and China.
The French position appeared to break with the overall European position.
British Foreign Minister William Hague, speaking Tuesday at the Arab League in Cairo, said the opposition coalition must gain support from within Syria.
A joint statement by the Arab League and the European Union said the two sides welcome the agreement reached in Doha by the Syrian opposition, which is seen as an “important step” in forming a widely representative opposition group.
Violence continued Tuesday across Syria, particularly in the country’s northeastern corner near the border with Turkey.
Syrian activists and a Turkish official said Syria’s air force bombed a rebel-held region near the border for a second day Tuesday, killing at least one person and wounding three others.
The aerial attack raised the two-day death toll in the region to an estimated 31 people. Nearly 10,000 Syrians have fled into Turkey since Friday, seeking safety from shelling and bombing.
Airstrikes occurred around the Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn, just across the border from the southeastern Turkish town of Ceylanpinar. Plumes of smoke rose into the sky, and Turkish ambulances rushed to the border to ferry wounded Syrians to Turkish hospitals.
An official from the Ceylanpinar mayor’s office reported four airstrikes Tuesday. It was not clear whether one or several planes were involved. He spoke on condition of anonymity because hewas not authorized to speak to reporters.
The official said one of the four wounded Syrians taken into Turkey for medical treatment Tuesday had died. He said about 20 people were killed during Monday’s air raid in Ras al-Ayn and 10 others from the town died of their wounds Monday in Turkey.
The violence in Syria has killed more than 36,000 people since an uprising against Assad’s regime began in March 2011. Hundreds of thousands have fled into neighboring Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.
Syrian rebels wrested control of Ras al-Ayn from the Assad regime forces last week. The town is in the predominantly Kurdish oil-producing northeastern province of al-Hasaka.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking to journalists in Rome late Monday, said Turkey formally protested the bombings close to its border to the Syrian government, saying the attacks were endangering Turkey’s security. He said Turkey also reported the bombings to NATO allies and to the U.N. Security Council.
Information for this article was contributed by Matthew Lee, Mehmet Guzel, Suzan Fraser, Jamey Keaten, Sarah El Deeb and John Heilprin of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 11/14/2012