CAIRO – Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud Al-Faisal stressed that there should be a serious international commitment to put a quick end to the escalating humanitarian tragedy in Syria and begin the process of transfer of power on the basis of a clear and explicit UN Security Council resolution. In his speech at the Second Arab-European Ministerial Meeting here Tuesday, Prince Saud hoped to see more European efforts to tackle the Syrian crisis and provide the necessary political, security and humanitarian support to help Syrian people achieve their legitimate aspirations. “More than a-year-and-a-half have passed since the Syrian crisis began, which saw many Arab and international initiatives, but none of these efforts could achieve its objectives to cease the war waged by the brutal regime against its people or stop the flow of hundreds of thousands of refugees and the displaced people in the absence of serious international will,” he said. Prince Saud said the Kingdom has welcomed the formation of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. The government hopes that all opposition groups at home and abroad will join it as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius urged world powers to recognize the newly formed Syrian opposition bloc. “Our hope is that the different countries recognize the Syrian national coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people... France's role is to make that hope possible,” Fabius told reporters in Cairo as the leader of Syria's new opposition coalition called on European states to recognize it as the legitimate government and provide it with funds to buy the weapons it needs to overthrow President Bashar Al-Assad. Mouaz Al-Khatib, the Damascus preacher elected unopposed Sunday to lead the new group, said he wanted diplomatic backing. “I request European states to grant political recognition to the coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people and to give it financial support,” he said. “When we get political recognition, this will allow the coalition to act as a government and hence acquire weapons and this will solve our problems,” Al-Khatib added. Meanwhile, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Dr. Abdullatif Al-Zayani announced in Riyadh Tuesday that GCC foreign ministers will hold a meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister in the Saudi capital Wednesday. On the ground, fierce battles and army shelling in Damascus province Tuesday killed at least 41 people, most of them civilians, while warplanes again bombed Ras Al-Ain, a strategic town on the Turkish border, a watchdog said. The fighting in the Eastern Ghuta area east of Damascus came after rebels launched an attack on public buildings in the area, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The area is a hotbed of insurgent groups, and has been subjected to a fierce campaign by Assad's forces to stamp out both peaceful activism and armed rebellion since early in the 20-month revolt. The army used tanks to shell several towns east of Damascus, including Harasta, Zabadani and Irbin, killing at least seven civilians including an unknown number of women and children, the Observatory said. The watchdog also reported fresh bombings by warplanes of Ras Al-Ain, in northeastern Syria. The air strikes have sent a new wave of civilians pouring into Turkey, adding to the 9,000 refugees who fled late last week when rebels overran the town. In other violence, the army shelled rebel positions in the southern province of Daraa, in the central province of Homs, in Idlib in the northwest and in the northern city of Aleppo, said the Observatory. At least 62 people were killed across Syria – 28 civilians, 11 soldiers and 23 rebels – said the Observatory, which relies for its information on a network of activists, lawyers and medics. The watchdog has given an overall death toll of more than 37,000 since the revolt broke out in March 2011. – Agencies
