Free Syrian Army fighters look at a Syrian Army jet, not pictured, in Fafeen village, north of Aleppo province, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. Syrian rebels including Islamic extremists took full control of a sprawling military base Tuesday after a bloody two-day battle that killed dozens of soldiers, activists said. It was the latest gain by opposition forces bolstered by an al-Qaida-linked group that has provided skilled fighters but raised concerns in the West. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)
Free Syrian Army fighters look at a Syrian Army jet, not pictured, in Fafeen village, north of Aleppo province, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. Syrian rebels including Islamic extremists took full control of a sprawling military base Tuesday after a bloody two-day battle that killed dozens of soldiers, activists said. It was the latest gain by opposition forces bolstered by an al-Qaida-linked group that has provided skilled fighters but raised concerns in the West. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)
Free Syrian Army fighters fighter retreat after an attack on Al-Mosthat Army base in Fafeen village, north of Aleppo province, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012.(AP Photo/Manu Brabo)
A Free Syrian Army fighter points his weapon as he watches a Syrian Army jet, not pictured, in Fafeen village, north of Aleppo province, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)
A Free Syrian Army fighter walks over the ruins of a building bombed by a Syrian Army jet in Fafeen village, north of Aleppo province, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. Syrian rebels including Islamic extremists took full control of a sprawling military base Tuesday after a bloody two-day battle that killed dozens of soldiers, activists said. It was the latest gain by opposition forces bolstered by an al-Qaida-linked group that has provided skilled fighters but raised concerns in the West. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)
In this Monday, Dec. 10, 2012 photo, Syrian girls who fled their homes with their families peek out of their makeshift school at a camp for displaced Syrians in the village of Atmeh, Syria. This tent camp sheltering some of the hundreds of thousands of Syrians uprooted by the country's brutal civil war has lost the race against winter: the ground under white tents is soaked in mud, rain water seeps into thin mattresses and volunteer doctors routinely run out of medicine for coughing, runny-nosed children. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) ? The fourth conference for the "Friends of the Syrian People" was set to open Wednesday after the U.S. said the new Syrian opposition coalition is the "sole legitimate representative" of the Syrian people.
The U.S. move, announced by President Barack Obama late Tuesday, follows that of France and the U.K. and what that will mean for the Syrian opposition should be indicated by the results of the conference, which includes more than a hundred delegates from Europe and the Gulf countries in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.
The Syrian National Coalition, formed in November during a conference in Doha, Qatar, has been calling for increased international support, including military material for opposition forces battling the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria for nearly two years.
The U.S. is not, however, expected to approve military aid, in part over fears of al-Qaida linked rebel units operating in the country.
Obama's announcement follows his administration's blacklisting of a militant Syrian rebel group with links to al-Qaida. That step is aimed at blunting the influence of extremists amid fears that the regime may use or lose control of its stockpile of chemical weapons.
The U.S. had been leading international efforts to prod the fractured Syrian opposition into coalescing around a leadership that would represent all of the country's factions and religions. Yet it had held back from granting recognition to the group until it demonstrated that it could organize itself in credible fashion.
In particular, Washington had wanted to see the group set up smaller committees that could deal with specific immediate and short-term issues, such as governing parts of Syria under their control and putting in place institutions to address the needs of people once Assad is ousted. Some of those committees could form the basis of a transitional government.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was expected to attend the conference, but cancelled following an illness and will be represented by Deputy Secretary of State for the Middle East, William Burns.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday the recognition contradicted earlier international agreements that foresee the "commencement of an all-Syria dialogue" that would include all sides of the conflict, in which more than 40,000 people have died so far.
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