Syria opposition urges US to reconsider Al-Nusra move

MARRAKESH, Morocco - Agence France-Presse

AP Photo

The opposition National Coalition, newly recognised by Washington as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, on Wednesday urged the US to review its blacklisting of the jihadist Al-Nusra Front.
 
"The decision to blacklist one of the groups fighting the regime as a terrorist organisation must be re-examined," the bloc's leader, Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, said at a meeting in Morocco of the Friends of Syria group that includes the United States.
 
"We can have ideological and political differences with certain parties, but the revolutionaries all share the same goal: to overthrow the criminal regime" of President Bashar al-Assad.
 
On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama recognised the National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the nation's people. It also blacklisted as a terrorist group the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front, which US officials fear seeks to hijack the revolution.
 
Khatib's comments came after strong criticism of the US move by a key mainstream rebel commander on the ground and by the influential Muslim Brotherhood, which is an important component of the opposition coalition.