Opposition Council legitimate representative of Syrian people: US

The Syrian Opposition Council (SOC) is the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, the White House has said, but noted that it does not support any particular individual or group in it.

“We support the Syrian Opposition Coalition. We believe that it is the legitimate representative of the Opposition and of the Syrian people in their effort to rid their country of the scourge that is President Assad, a leader with enormous amounts of the blood of his own people on his hands,” the White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told presspersons at his daily news conference yesterday.

Carney said that the US continues to provide an exceptional amount of humanitarian aid to the Syrian people and non-lethal assistance to the Opposition in the strife-torn country.

“When it comes to our policy, we are constantly evaluating in terms of what steps we should be taking to help bring about the transition in Syria that the Syrian people so desperately deserve. And we will continue to do that. The fact is that we have provided an enormous amount of humanitarian assistance. We are assisting the Opposition and we’ll continue to do so, working with our partners,” he said.

Carney said the non-lethal assistance to the Syrian opposition includes equipment and training to build a capacity of civilian activists, and to link Syrian citizens with the SOC and local coordinating councils.

Meanwhile, the State Department spokesperson, Patrick Ventrell said the US wants the Syrian opposition to resolve its leadership issues sooner rather than later.

“We support the organisation, not one single person, and what we support is their positive vision statement for an inclusive Syria, a future where the Government respects the rights of all Syrians regardless of their affiliation,” he said in response to a question at his daily news conference.

Rejecting the characterisation that the US supports one particular individual, Ventrell said the country has not supported one individual over another.

“There’s no American pick. These are Syrian picks. And these are people they’ve selected. What we’re supporting is the organisation as a whole and their vision,” he said.

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