France broke ranks with its European allies on Tuesday by officially recognizing Syria's new opposition coalition and said it would consider arming the rebels once they created a government in waiting.
Syrian opposition groups struck a deal in Doha on Sunday to form a broad coalition to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad after 20 months of an uprising against his rule.
Arab and EU foreign ministers welcomed the formation of the coalition at a meeting in Cairo on Tuesday as an important step forward, but stopped short of recognizing it.
"I announce today that France recognizes the Syrian national coalition as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people and as the future government of a democratic Syria making it possible to bring an end to Bashar al-Assad's regime," Hollande told a news conference in Paris.
Read more: France recognizes Syrian opposition coalition - chicagotribune.com
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