Obama now recognizes Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood-led rebel group as legitimate

I know, you’re shocked aren’t you?

FOX NEWS – President Barack Obama says the U.S. now recognizes Syria’s main opposition group as the “legitimate representative” of the country’s people.

Obama says the Syrian Opposition Council is now “inclusive enough” to be granted greater legitimacy in the international community. The president says that level of recognition comes with responsibility, including making sure the group organizes itself effectively and is committed to a political transition that respects the rights of women and minorities.

The move paves the way for greater U.S. support as the group seeks the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Obama spoke in an interview with ABC News.

Here’s a description of the rebels that Obama just endorsed (h/t: sDee):

CHICAGO TRIBUNE – Syrian rebel groups have chosen Brigadier Selim Idris, a former officer in President Bashar al-Assad’s army, to head their new Islamist-dominated military command, opposition sources said on Saturday.

The joint command named Islamist commanders Abdelbasset Tawil from the northern province of Idlib and Abdelqader Saleh from the adjacent province of Aleppo to serve as Idris’s deputies, the source said.

The unified command includes many with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and to Salafists, who follow a puritanical interpretation of Islam. It excludes the most senior officers who had defected from Assad’s military.

Its composition, estimated to be two-thirds from the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies, reflects the growing strength of Islamist fighters on the ground and resembles that of the civilian opposition leadership coalition created under Western and Arab auspices in Qatar last month.


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