奧巴馬：美國現在承認新成立的敘利亞反對派聯盟

U.S. President Barack Obama says the United States now recognizes a newly-formed Syrian coalition of opposition groups -- a move aimed at piling pressure against embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Mr. Obama, speaking Tuesday on U.S. television, said the new coalition is now representative enough of the Syrian population that it can be seen as the "legitimate representative" of the Syrian people "in opposition to the Assad regime."

The widely-expected move is aimed at strengthening the hand of rebels seeking to topple the Assad government. But it stops short of any U.S. commitment to arm the opposition, which the administration says includes terrorist participation.

In the ABC television interview, the president noted a "small element" within the opposition coalition that is, in his words, " affiliated with al-Qaida in Iraq, and we have designated them, al-Nusra, as a terrorist organization."

Hours earlier, the U.S. State Department formally declared Jabhat al-Nusra a terrorist organization -- a move that freezes its assets. It also announced sanctions against two armed militia groups that back the Syrian president.

Analysts say al-Nusra has been among the most effective of the rebel groups fighting the Assad government. That effectiveness has raised U.S. concerns that hardline extremists are commandeering the 21-month-old revolt.美國總統奧巴馬說，美國現在承認新成立的敘利亞反對派聯盟，這一舉措是向身處困境的敘利亞總統阿薩德施壓。

奧巴馬總統星期二在美國電視臺上說，新的聯盟現在代表了足夠多的敘利亞人口，可以被視爲“合法代表”反對阿薩德政權的敘利亞人民。

這一被廣泛預期的舉措旨在加強那些尋求推翻阿薩德政府的反叛組織的力量。但講話沒有提到美國對反對派提供武器的任何承諾。美國政府說，反對派中有恐怖分子的參與。

奧巴馬總統在接受美國廣播公司的採訪中指出，在反對派聯盟中有“少數分子”與伊拉克基地組織“有牽連”，我們已經將“敘利亞人民勝利陣線支持者”定性爲恐怖組織。

在那幾個小時前，美國國務院正式宣佈“敘利亞人民勝利陣線支持者”爲恐怖組織，該組織的資產由於這一定性被凍結。美國國務院還宣佈，對兩個支持敘利亞總統的武裝民兵組織實行制裁。

分析人士說，在與敘利亞阿薩德政府作戰中，“敘利亞人民勝利陣線支持者”是最有效率的反叛組織之一。該組織的效率引起了美國關注，由於強硬派的極端分子正在指揮爲期21個月的反叛活動。