Washington: President Barack Obama is expected to meet with the head of Syria's opposition council in the coming days, as the US weighs the possibility of more economic sanctions aimed at changing Syrian President Bashar Assad's calculus ahead of June elections.
A White House official said Obama would see Ahmad al-Jarba while the opposition leader is in Washington for meetings with Secretary of State John Kerry and other US
officials. The exact day of Obama's meeting was unclear, though it's likely to occur after the president returns from a three-day trip to the West Coast that kicks off tomorrow.
The official insisted on anonymity in order to confirm Obama's meeting before it was publicly announced.
The administration recognised the opposition council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in December 2012, but its US offices had been recognised only as informal liaison bureaus until this week.
Earlier US 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.
A White House official said Obama would see Ahmad al-Jarba while the opposition leader is in Washington for meetings with Secretary of State John Kerry and other US
officials. The exact day of Obama's meeting was unclear, though it's likely to occur after the president returns from a three-day trip to the West Coast that kicks off tomorrow.
The official insisted on anonymity in order to confirm Obama's meeting before it was publicly announced.
The administration recognised the opposition council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in December 2012, but its US offices had been recognised only as informal liaison bureaus until this week.
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Earlier US 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.
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