Syrian opposition willing to work together to defeat IS

Beirut, Sep 11 (IANS/EFE) The Syrian National Coalition, the main opposition political alliance of Syria, Thursday said it was willing to cooperate with the international community to defeat the Islamic State (IS) Sunni extremist group.

In a statement, Hadi Al-Bahra, the president of the Syrian National Coalition, urged the US Congress to approve "as soon as possible" US President Barack Obama's plan to fight the IS and enable the training and arming of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

It came as a response to Obama's speech the day before announcing that his country would attack the IS in Syria and increase its campaign in Iraq, with a "relentless" offensive to destroy the group "wherever they exist".

"I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are. That means I will not hesitate to take action against (IS) in Syria, as well as Iraq. This is a core principle of my presidency: if you threaten America, you will find no safe haven," Obama said.

Al-Bahra noted that the coalition has been demanding this action to be taken for a while, and has warned in the past of the "growing danger" posed by the extremist organisation.

He recalled that the FSA has battled IS and has expelled its forces from wide territories in northern Syria.

However, he emphasised that the FSA needed support in the form of equipment to defeat the jihadis and act "as guardian of the Syrian people against extremism and tyranny".

"Today we are one step closer to that goal," said al-Bahra, who said he believed that attacking IS positions on Syrian soil "can be crucial" to international efforts to eliminate the group.

Al-Bahra argued that the coalition found it equally important to realise that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is "the root of violence, brutality and sense of impunity that prevails in Syria".

He stressed that the regime was "a serious threat to stability in the region" because, he said, it was this regime which had killed more than 190,000 people and left nine million homeless, backed by militia from Iraq and Lebanon.

"It was the regime that encouraged extremism and terrorism to grow and cause devastation in Syria and beyond its borders," said the opposition leader.

Three months ago, the IS declared an "Islamic caliphate" in the territories under its control in Iraq and Syria.

--IANS/EFE

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