France recognizes new envoy from Syria

Opposition group appoints ambassador

— France on Saturday welcomed a member of the Syrian opposition as the country’s ambassador, a bold bid to confer legitimacy on the week-old opposition coalition and encourage other Western nations to follow suit.

The new envoy, Mounzir Makhous, appeared before the press after talks at France’s presidential palace between President Francois Hollande and the head of the newly formed Syrian opposition coalition.

France has swiftly stepped out ahead of Western allies nearly since the start of the Syrian uprising 20 months ago. Saturday’s surprise announcement came even before the brand new coalition has named its provisional government and before a place in Paris to house the envoy has been found.

“There will be an ambassador of Syria in France,” Hollande announced. France expelled its Syrian ambassador in May, along with more than a half-dozen other countries.

Mouaz Al-Khatib, the opposition leader, described Makhous as “one of the first to speak of liberty” in Syria. He holds four doctorates and belongs to the Muslim Alawite sect of President Bashar Assad, demonstrating an effort to reach out to all of Syria’s people, al-Khatib said.

France recognized the coalition days after it was formed last Sunday - and so far is the only Western country to do so.

There is widespread fear that without a legitimate opposition force the civil war in Syria could degenerate into sectarian battles pitting community against community.

But, other EU nations and the United States have said they prefer to wait and see whether the coalition truly represents the variety of people that make up Syria before they recognize it.

A Syrian government official dismissed Makhous’ appointment, saying it was madeat the behest of France. “If France has appointed him, then he is a French ambassador, not a Syrian one,” he said.

More than 36,000 people have been killed since the Syrian uprising against Assad began in March 2011, and the new coalition is pressing for the means to defend Syrian civilians.

On Saturday, Syrian rebels took control of the Hamdan airport in the oil-rich province of Deir el-Zour along the border with Iraq after days of heavy fighting with Assad’s forces, Rami Abdul-Rahman, the chief of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.

The airport, near the border town of al-Boukamal, has been turned into a military base during Syria’s 20 months of conflict.

Rebels had been making advances in al-Boukamal for weeks. On Thursday, they seized control of the military security building and a military checkpoint at the edge of the border town.

Separately, six people were killed and several were wounded when a mortar round hit a Damascus suburb of Jaramana, state-run SANA news agency reported. The agency blamed the attack on terrorists, a term the regime uses for rebels, fighting to topple Assad.

Also, Israeli forces shot at Syrian fighters after fighting spilled into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

An Israeli military spokesman speaking on condition of anonymity according to protocol said the artillery identified a hit, but he did not know whether rebels or Assad loyalists were struck.

In Paris, Hollande confirmed that French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will raise the issue of lifting the EU arms embargo against Syria at a meeting Monday in Brussels among European Union foreign ministers.

Meanwhile, a Turkish cameraman captured by Syrian forces in Aleppo in August has been released and will return to Turkey.

Cameraman Cuneyt Unal and reporter Bashar Fahmi - a Jordanian citizen of Palestinian origin - had been missing since August.

Information for this article was contributed by Albert Aji, Barbara Surk and Suzan Fraser of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 11 on 11/18/2012

Upcoming Events