Syria’s main opposition group agreed to set up a transitional government
seeking recognition as the legitimate alternative to President Bashar
Assad’s rule, as rebels said they seized control of a nuclear research
center.
The Syrian National Coalition will name a premier for the
new administration within 10 days, Haitham El-Maleh, a leading member
of the group, said in a phone interview. He didn’t give further details.
Syrian
rebel fighters seized control of a nuclear research center at Al Kibar,
in the eastern province of Deir Ezzour, which was reportedly bombed by
Israelis in 2007, the opposition Local Coordination Committees said in
an e-mail.
At least 85 people were killed today by Assad’s
forces, the opposition Local Coordination Committees said, according to
Al Arabiya television.
The coalition was set up in November at a
meeting in Qatar to unify the forces, including Islamist groups, that
have been fighting for two years to oust Assad. While it has won backing
from the US, European allies and Arab League nations, it’s not clear
how much control the group has over rebel forces engaged on the ground
in a conflict that has killed almost 70,000 people, according to United
Nations estimates.
Syria’s government and the National Coalition
have both signaled in the past month that they are ready to hold talks,
though there has been no agreement over terms and conditions.
Bomb attack in Damascus kills 53
The
opposition group won’t accept any political solution that doesn’t
involve Assad’s departure, and will insist that the president and his
military and security leaders be tried for crimes against Syrians,
Egypt’s state-run Middle East News Agency reported today, citing a
document drafted by the coalition after a two-day meeting in Cairo.
The
government said a bomb attack in Damascus yesterday that left 53 people
dead was carried out by groups linked to al- Qaida. The bombing in the
densely populated area also injured 235 people, the government said in a
letter to the United Nations that was published by the state-run SANA
news agency. The casualties included children and students, it said.
The
opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on its Facebook
page that 61 people were killed in the bombing, including 17 members of
the military. The attack took place in the vicinity of the Russian
Embassy and the ruling Baath Party headquarters. No Russian diplomats or
their families were hurt in the attack, which damaged the embassy’s
windows and doors, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.
The opposition coalition blamed Assad’s government for the attack, saying it “never hesitates” to bomb residential areas.
“The
Assad regime has opened the doors for anarchy in Syria in order to
justify committing heinous and unprecedented crimes against the innocent
Syrian population,” the group said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.