Cairo: The Arab League recognised a newly formed Syrian opposition bloc as "legitimate," urging more opposition groups to join the coalition.
Arab foreign ministers gathered in Cairo in a statement after talks called the National Council, formed in Doha on Sunday, "the legitimate representative and main interlocutor with the Arab League."
"It is the legitimate representative of the Syrian opposition," Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, who heads the Arab League group for Syria, told reporters yesterday.
The top diplomats called on "the rest of the opposition to join this national coalition so that it brings together all segments of the Syrian people."
They also urged "regional and international groups to recognise (the bloc) as a legitimate representative of the aspirations of the Syrian people."
In a sign of divisions among Arab states, Iraq and Algeria expressed reservations about the statement, an Arab League official said.
PTI