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Clinton Expresses Support for New Syrian Opposition Coalition Pressure Builds on Syrian Opposition Coalition to Transform Into a Political Force
(about 7 hours later)
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The United States expressed fresh support on Wednesday for a new coalition of Syrian opposition groups formed as an alternative to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Pressure is building on a new Syrian opposition coalition to choose leaders and transform itself into a political force that could earn formal recognition from the United States and other countries as a viable alternative to the Syrian government.
The coalition, formally known as the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, was pulled together from a variety of opposition groups at a meeting last month in Doha, Qatar, that was convened at the insistence of the United States and other nations.
On Nov. 13, France became the first Western country to formally recognize the coalition, and President François Hollande said France would consider arming it. Britain, Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council have also recognized the coalition.
But the coalition has struggled to agree on a slate of governing leaders that would unite what is still a loosely allied organization, trying to weave together local councils, splinter organizations, disparate opposition groups and the loyalties of the armed units fighting the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.
On Wednesday, the United States, just ahead of a meeting next week of the so-called Friends of Syria in Marrakesh, Morocco, expressed fresh support for the coalition. American officials hinted that the United States would upgrade relations with the opposition, possibly to include formal recognition, if the coalition has made progress on a political structure by the meeting next Wednesday.
“Now that there is a new opposition formed, we are going to be doing what we can to support that opposition,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a news conference in Brussels. “I am looking forward to the friends of the Syrian people meeting next week in Marrakesh, where we will explore with like-minded countries what we can do to bring this conflict to an end.”“Now that there is a new opposition formed, we are going to be doing what we can to support that opposition,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a news conference in Brussels. “I am looking forward to the friends of the Syrian people meeting next week in Marrakesh, where we will explore with like-minded countries what we can do to bring this conflict to an end.”
Mrs. Clinton’s remarks appeared aimed at contributing momentum to the efforts of the opposition coalition, formally known as the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, to transform itself from a loosely allied organization into a viable political force. The State Department announced on Wednesday that Mrs. Clinton would lead the United States delegation at the Marrakesh meeting.  
On Nov. 13, France became the first Western country to formally recognize the coalition, and President François Hollande said France would consider arming it. Britain, Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council have also recognized the coalition, which was pulled together from a variety of opposition groups at a meeting last month in Doha, Qatar, that was convened at the insistence of the United States and other nations. Separately, the United States is moving toward designating one Syrian opposition group, Al Nusra Front, as an international terrorist organization, American officials said. The group is seen by experts as affiliated with Al Qaeda. The step would be synchronized with the emerging strategy toward the opposition and  would be intended to isolate radical foes of the Assad government. 
The United States has not formally recognized the group, and any decision to do so could be announced at the so-called Friends of Syria meeting that Mrs. Clinton is expected to attend in Morocco next Wednesday. American officials want to first see the coalition develop a political structure as a credible alternative to Mr. Assad’s government. With the pressure on to create a government framework ahead of the Morocco meeting, the coalition and its delegates have held meetings in Cairo to try to agree on how to choose leaders, including a prime minister. Another round of talks could take place there on Saturday. Yaser Tabbara, a member of the coalition, said they might also try to identify candidates for 10 to 15 cabinet positions.
With the pressure on to create a government framework ahead of the Morocco meeting, the coalition and its delegates have held meetings in Cairo to try to agree on how to choose leaders, including a prime minister, and another round of talks could take place on Saturday in the Egyptian capital. Yaser Tabbara, a member of the coalition, said they might also try to identify candidates for 10 to 15 cabinet positions. The spotlight on the coalition as a governing alternative is also growing stronger in the days before the Morocco meeting at the same time that pressure is building on the Assad government.
Mrs. Clinton’s remarks on Wednesday, which came at the end of a NATO meeting in Brussels, were another step forward in Washington’s expressions of support as the coalition develops a political framework. Robert Ford, the American ambassador to Syria, last week called the group the “legitimate representative of the Syrian people’s aspirations.” This week, fighting has raged around the capital Damascus and the airport, and diplomatic setbacks have come in waves. On Monday, a senior Turkish official said that Russia, a staunch supporter of Mr. Assad’s government had agreed to a new diplomatic approach that would seek ways to persuade him to give up, while a Foreign Ministry spokesman was reported to have defected.
But she also highlighted new concerns over the escalation of the Syrian conflict. On Monday, President Obama warned Syria not to use chemical weapons against its own people, vowing to hold accountable anyone who did, even as American intelligence officials picked up signs that such arms might be deployed in the fighting there. In addition, President Obama, Mrs. Clinton and NATO ministers warned Syria that any use of chemical weapons would be met with a strong international response. The Syrian Foreign Ministry told state television that the government “would not use chemical weapons, if it had them, against its own people under any circumstances.”
A senior French official said on Wednesday that such signs undercored the Assad government’s weakening control over the country and its increasing desperation. But American intelligence officials picked up signs that such arms might be deployed in the fighting there, and Mrs. Clinton again on Wednesday highlighted the new concerns.
“The regime is acting more and more like a wounded wild animal,” said the official, who spoke to reporters in Washington on the condition of anonymity because of diplomatic protocols. “If the regime believes it is losing control, it may try to use its maximum capacities.” “And I have to say again what I said on Monday, what President Obama has said repeatedly: We’ve made our views absolutely clear to the Syrians, to the international community, through various channels — public, private, direct, indirect — that this is a situation that the entire international community is united on,” she said in Brussels after attending the NATO meeting.
The official, who has spoken to Russian diplomats in recent weeks, said that despite Russia’s steadfast public support for the Syrian government, Russian diplomats had told him that they recognized that Mr. Assad could no longer remain in power. That assessment echoed a senior Turkish official’s assessment on Monday that Russia had agreed to a new diplomatic approach that would seek ways to persuade Mr. Assad to step down. “No one in the Russian leadership believes that Assad can continue to lead Syria,” he said.
He said the nations that have already recognized the group were pressing for broader international recognition to help streamline and coordinate the flow of aid to opposition forces in Syria, and stave off the growing influence of extremist Islamist groups that are now fighting alongside the secular opposition.
“The quicker the fall of the regime, the stronger the political alternative will be,” he said. “The coalition is the political alternative to radicalization on the ground.”
On Tuesday, NATO ministers also expressed concern about reports that the Syrian government might be getting ready to use chemical weapons. “Any such action would be completely unacceptable and a clear breach of international law,” the NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said at a news conference.
Mrs. Clinton said in Brussels on Wednesday: “And I have to say again what I said on Monday, what President Obama has said repeatedly: We’ve made our views absolutely clear to the Syrians, to the international community, through various channels — public, private, direct, indirect — that this is a situation that the entire international community is united on.
“And our concerns are that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria.”“And our concerns are that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria.”
Mrs. Clinton later added, “What we should be thinking about is a political transition in Syria and one that needs to start as soon as possible.” Mrs. Clinton later added, “What we should be thinking about is a political transition in Syria, and one that needs to start as soon as possible.”
About 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Syria, which began in March 2011 and has churned on from the north to the south of the country, igniting flare-ups of fighting with Syria’s neighbors. In a reflection of how the conflict in Syria is spilling over its borders, NATO agreed on Tuesday to deploy Patriot surface-to-air missiles in Turkey, which had requested the installations as a defense against cross-border violence. On Wednesday, fighting continued in the suburbs of Damascus as the government pressed a counteroffensive against rebels. Some antigovernment fighters said they had taken the Aqraba air base near the Damascus airport, which has been effectively closed during six days of fighting, but activists said the fight for the base was continuing.
The developments on the diplomatic front came as Syrian forces continued to press an intense counteroffensive against rebels in the Damascus suburbs. Despite increasing rebel pressure on Damascus, the government remains in control of the city and continued to pummel rebels in the suburbs with airstrikes and artillery.
This week, the United Nations and the European Union announced that they were curtailing activities and pulling staff members out of Damascus, the capital. Rebels and government forces clashed around a strategic air base at Wadi al-Deif, near Maarat al-Noaman, a crossroads town on the road between Damascus and Aleppo. Government airstrikes pounded the area around Damascus and rebel fighting continued to disrupt the airport. Speculation percolated about whether Mr. Assad would seek asylum in a foreign country. State media in Cuba and Venezuela have reported that the Syrian deputy foreign minister, Faisal Miqdad, visited the countries in late November and delivered written messages from Mr. Assad to their leaders, who share his defiance of the United States. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that he had requested asylum in Latin America.

Anne Barnard reported from Beirut, and Michael R. Gordon from Brussels. Neil MacFarquhar contributed reporting from Beirut, Eric Schmitt from Washington and Christine Hauser from New York.

But the subject of the meetings remained unclear, and some analysts expressed doubt that Mr. Assad would leave Syria.
In Washington, asked about the speculation that Mr. Assad was weighing asylum offers from Latin America, a State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, said, “We do understand that some countries, both in the region and elsewhere, have offered to host Assad and his family should he choose to leave Syria.”

Anne Barnard reported from Beirut, Lebanon; Michael R. Gordon from Brussels; and Christine Hauser from New York. Reporting was contributed by Randal C. Archibold from Mexico City; William Neuman from Caracas, Venezuela; Neil MacFarquhar from Beirut, Lebanon; and Eric Schmitt from Washington.