Britain formally recognised a newly-formed opposition bloc as the sole representative of the Syrian people yesterday, as the chief of the UN said he feared Syria could become a “regional battleground”.
Britain’s recognition of the opposition National Coalition came as fighting raged across Syrian flashpoints, including in the northern town of Ras al-Ain where a watchdog said dozens died in clashes between rebels and a Kurdish militia.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said meanwhile that Nato member Ankara, a sharp critic of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, would formally ask the alliance for Patriot missiles to protect its border with Syria.
In announcing Britain’s recognition of the National Coalition formed in Doha on November 11, Foreign Secretary William Hague told Parliament he took the decision after he met leaders of the bloc in London on Friday and they assured him that they have backing inside Syria and would respect human rights.
Hague said he has asked the group to appoint a political representative to Britain and he announced an increase in aid and support for the coalition as it battles the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The move comes one week after France became the first Western country to recognise the coalition and after the EU on Monday said it “considers them legitimate representatives of the aspirations of the Syrian people”.
But even as momentum for recognising a credible opposition to Assad gathered steam, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, on a visit to Cairo, cautioned that on the ground there was a potential for the conflict to spin out of control.
“We are deeply concerned about the continued militarisation of the conflict, horrendous violations of human rights and the risk of Syria turning into a regional battleground as the violence intensifies,” Ban told reporters.
He also appealed to countries “to generously contribute more to our humanitarian programmes inside Syria and in the region and to assist Syria’s neighbours in dealing with the refugee crisis”.
Turkey, which is already hosting more than 120,000 Syrian refugees, said it would formally ask Nato for Patriot missiles to protect its border.
“(Patriots) are a precautionary measure, for defence in particular,” Ahmet Davutoglu, the foreign minister of the Nato-member state told reporters before he left Ankara for Gaza. “We will submit the formal request as soon as possible.”
Over the past several months, Turkey has steadily reinforced its border defences, notably after five of its nationals were killed by artillery fire from Syria in October.
Syrian rebels, meanwhile, announced yesterday the creation of a security service to “defend the Syrian revolution” in a country that has been awash with feared intelligence agencies for the past five decades.
Its objective is “to be a powerful security shield to protect the sons of the revolution from attacks, arrests and killings,” and to hunt down members of the opposition who have committed abuses, according to a video statement by rebels.