Syria: Opposition Anger Over US Refusal To Fund Arms; Opposition Leader Has Resigned

[Purveyor]

Syria's opposition has reacted angrily to the refusal by the US and its western allies to do more to help, amid signs Bashar al-Assad's regime is gaining ground in the international debate about how to handle the country's two-year crisis.

Moaz al-Khatib, leader of the mainstream National Opposition Coalition (NOC), the rebel group backed by Arab and western governments, registered his dismay by confirming on Sunday that his resignation - first announced nearly a month ago but not implemented - was now final. "Khatib is resigning to denounce the international community's lack of real action on behalf of the Syrian people," said an NOC official, Marwan Hajjo.

The move followed Saturday's meeting of the Friends of Syria group in Istanbul, which ignored demands for "specific, precise and immediate action to protect Syrian civilians from the use of ballistic missiles and chemical weapons".

The NOC had said it was a "moral imperative" to enforce a no-fly zone to stop attacks on Syria's northern and southern borders to allow for the free movement of refugees back into the country. But John Kerry, the US secretary of state, announced only a doubling of non-lethal aid, including equipment such as body armour and night-vision goggles but not weapons. America's $250m will be distributed by the Supreme Military Council, part of an effort to guarantee firmer political control by the Free Syrian Army.

Khatib, a former imam of the Ummayyad mosque in Damascus, is highly regarded inside Syria. His departure is a blow to an opposition which often appears fractured and incoherent and pits liberal and secular figures against the powerful Muslim Brotherhood. He first announced his resignation on 24 March, but continued working in the hope of securing wider representation and internal reforms. Khatib met Kerry before Saturday's conference began.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/21/syria-opposition-anger-us-refusal-fund-arms

[Purveyor]

1. Not the first time he has 'resigned'. Did so back in mid-March, too. eom

[TwilightGardener]

2. Fine... give us our money back, then. Ingrates--have no problem with

allowing themselves to be associated with jihadis/AQ, but smack us in the face when we don't cough up US troops and planes and weapons to do their fighting for them.

[David__77]

5. Actually, they say outright that it's none of our business.

They decry non-intervention but say that Syria's political future is none of the outside world's business, and they will welcome AQ as good partners and friends. I think that is fine for them to uphold a sovereign Syria (not that this is what they are doing), but then they should recognize the US/western non-intervention is legitimate.

[leveymg]

3. We probably have a few aging nuclear missile subs we can let them have. Cheap.

Come on in! We're givin' 'em away!

[David__77]

4. This Khatib dude is a comedian.

Somehow I doubt that his resignation is really "final final." He will come up with still more elaborate ways to beg and grovel for aid from US taxpayers.