Head of Syrian opposition responds to Obama's remarks

The head of Syria’s opposition coalition, Ahmed Al-Jarba, responded on Wednesday to US President Barack Obama’s remarks that there is no moderate opposition to work with in Syria, calling this is a new challenge for the rebels, Anadolu news agency reported.

“This poses a new challenge for the rebels and stresses the importance of reorganising ourselves in a better way,” Al-Jarba said in a statement.

Al-Jarba reportedly commented on the American president’s remarks during a meeting with the military leaders of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which took place on Tuesday.

Obama had said on Friday that there is no moderate Syrian opposition group that is able to defeat the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad.

“I think this notion that somehow there was this ready-made moderate Syrian force that was able to defeat Al-Assad is simply not true,” he told CBS presenter Norah O’Donnell. “We have spent a lot of time trying to work with a moderate opposition in Syria,” he added.

In the meeting with FSA leaders, Al-Jarba also discussed the results of the 41st summit of the Islamic states, which he attended, and briefed the military leaders about the latest developments on the northern and eastern areas of the country in order to discuss and take the appropriate measures.

The coalition consists of several opposition groups and was established in 2012 in Doha to be the umbrella group for the Syrian opposition and to represent Syria at international events. It has been recognised by many of the Arab states as the sole representative of the Syrians.

Recently, it has been recognised by the US, UK, France and other countries. These countries have started to treat the coalition representatives as diplomatic missions.

However, the coalition, despite its Western and Arab supporters, has not been able to succeed in toppling Al-Assad’s regime after a three-year-long popular uprising.