'Obama to meet Syria opposition leader'

By Al Hussein Al Shishakli

President Barack Obama is expected to meet Syrian opposition leader Ahmad Jarba during his visit to the United States this week, a senior US official told AFP Tuesday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said "we expect that the president will meet" Jarba during his visit.

He did not give further details on the likely timing of the meeting, with Obama scheduled to travel outside Washington to Arkansas and California between Wednesday and Friday.

Jarba's office last week said he would head to the United States for an eight-day visit from May 7, seeking sophisticated weapons for rebels battling the ruling regime.

Jarba, the head of the Syrian opposition in exile, is also due to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, congressmen, senators and the leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties, his office said.

Jarba's trip to Washington comes as the Obama administration is boosting its support for the Syrian Opposition Council. The State Department announced Monday that it would give the opposition's offices in Washington and New York formal diplomatic status and increase non-lethal assistance to the opposition by $27 million, AP reported.

The administration recognized the opposition council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in December 2012, but its U.S. offices had been recognized only as informal liaison bureaus until this week.

The moves come at a critical time in the conflict as Assad's government has made recent battlefield gains and is planning presidential elections in June. The administration is considering taking additional steps in the coming days, including the possibility of levying new sanctions on the Assad regime.

Earlier U.S. sanctions on Assad and his associates have had little impact in stemming the bloody civil war that has stretched into a fourth year. More than 150,000 people have been killed in the clashes between rebels and forces loyal to Assad, with millions of others displaced by the war.

The White House has denounced the June presidential elections in Syria as a farce aimed at giving Assad the veneer of electoral legitimacy. Assad has ruled Syria since 2000, when he took over from his late father.

On March 9, 2014 Zaman Alwasl revealed that Syria’s key opposition hadreceived an invitation to visit White House and to meet the U.S. President Barack Obama.

The under secretary of state for political affairs, Wendy Sherman, has invited Mr. Ahmad Jarba onn the sidelines of Syrian talks in Geneva, Jan 22.

In relevant development, a well-informed source told Zaman Alwasl that the political commission of Syria’s National Coalition had appointed Mr. Hassan Hashemi to head opposition political and diplomatic department in the United States and Canada.

Hashemi who arrived days ago to Washington will be with the opposition delegation, Zaman Alwasl source said.

Hashemi is a veteran opposition figure and the head of the political bureau of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. He also considered as one of the MB influential decision-makers.

Hashemi first procedure, according to source, was asking the coalition envoy to Washington Mr. Najib al-Ghadban to make him informed of all details related to the upcoming visit of NC leader, Mr. Ahmed Jarba, to U.S.