As Battle Over Damascus Looms, Britain Recognizes Rebels

Fighting around Damascus heated up on Tuesday, according to Reuters, as Syrian forces tried to oust rebels from a nearby stronghold.

The push comes as the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) racks up important military gains in the north and received recognition from a tenth nation, the United Kingdom, as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Here's the latest on unfolding events in the Syrian civil war.

Rebels seize bases, headquarters

While Syrian government forces have been trying to take the suburban city of Daraya on Damascus' outskirts, rebel forces have seized a special forces base near Aleppo in the north and took control of an army battalion headquarters south of Damascus. Another air defense base at Sheikh Suleiman 11 miles from Turkey was also captured by the SNC.

The Turkish foreign minister confirmed that NATO states would provide the neighoring country with a Patriot missile system to help defend against Syrian cross-border shelling.

Ally building gas pipeline

Iran, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's few allies, began constructing a $10 billion natural gas pipeline to Syria, according to an Associated Press report. The 750-mile project is expected to be finished by the second half of 2013, dependent on Assad's surviving the current civil war.

International recognition for SNC growing

Britain joined with France, Italy, Turkey, and Gulf Arab states in recognizing the SNC, an important diplomatic goal for the rebels. Recognition could also lead to arms deals.

Coalition spokesman Walid al-Bunni welcomed the step, according to another report from Reuters. "This step is very important and I think it will encourage more Syrians to join the coalition and trust it and it will also encourage other European states to recognize it."

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland addressed concerns that an extremist Islamist faction had created an Islamic state in Aleppo, saying that the "Syrian Opposition Coalition has supported a platform of pluralism, a platform of tolerance, a platform that respects the rights of Syrians of all stripes, it's not surprising to us that those who want an extremist state or a heavily Islamist state in Syria have taken issue with this."

She noted that Syrian Opposition Coalition President Mouaz al-Khatib wanted a "nation of tolerance" and stated this was the goal for the U.S. as well.

Although the United States has voiced support for the SNC, it does not recognize it as the sole legal representative.

Shawn Humphrey is a former contributor to The Flint Journal and an amateur Africanist, focusing his personal studies on human rights and political issues on the continent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/battle-over-damascus-looms-britain-recognizes-rebels-195100008.html

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