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| France Says It Would Recognize Provisional Syrian Government | France Says It Would Recognize Provisional Syrian Government |
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| BEIRUT, Lebanon — France’s president urged the Syrian opposition movement on Monday to create a provisional government and vowed to extend official recognition once it was formed. | BEIRUT, Lebanon — France’s president urged the Syrian opposition movement on Monday to create a provisional government and vowed to extend official recognition once it was formed. |
| The statement by the French president, François Hollande, represented the furthest any Western leader had gone in pressuring the embattled government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. While the United States, Britain and other Western countries have called on Mr. Assad to resign and have supported the opposition with nonlethal aid — and American intelligence agents have helped funnel arms to rebel groups — they have not explicitly stated they would recognize a provisional government formed by Mr. Assad’s array of political enemies. | |
| Mr. Hollande’s statement, made during an annual speech to French diplomats in Paris, came as new violence convulsed Syria, including the possible rebel destruction of a Syrian helicopter gunship and further signs of a rush to the borders by thousands of people seeking safe haven from the 18-month-old conflict. | Mr. Hollande’s statement, made during an annual speech to French diplomats in Paris, came as new violence convulsed Syria, including the possible rebel destruction of a Syrian helicopter gunship and further signs of a rush to the borders by thousands of people seeking safe haven from the 18-month-old conflict. |
| “France asks the Syrian opposition to form a provisional government — inclusive and representative — that can become the legitimate representative of the new Syria,” Mr. Hollande was quoted by news agencies as saying during the speech at the Élysée Palace. “France will recognize the provisional government of Syria once it is formed.” | “France asks the Syrian opposition to form a provisional government — inclusive and representative — that can become the legitimate representative of the new Syria,” Mr. Hollande was quoted by news agencies as saying during the speech at the Élysée Palace. “France will recognize the provisional government of Syria once it is formed.” |
| Mr. Hollande also joined American and British warnings to the Assad government not to deploy its arsenal of chemical weapons, calling such a step grounds for a military intervention. | Mr. Hollande also joined American and British warnings to the Assad government not to deploy its arsenal of chemical weapons, calling such a step grounds for a military intervention. |
| The French leader spoke hours after Syrian antigovernment fighters said they had downed a government helicopter during fierce fighting in the eastern suburbs of Damascus. Syrian state television confirmed that a helicopter had crashed in the neighborhood of Qaboun, without detailing the cause. | The French leader spoke hours after Syrian antigovernment fighters said they had downed a government helicopter during fierce fighting in the eastern suburbs of Damascus. Syrian state television confirmed that a helicopter had crashed in the neighborhood of Qaboun, without detailing the cause. |
| In an unverified video posted on the Internet on Monday purporting to show the crash, flames appear around a falling helicopter, before it bursts into a fireball and plummets to the ground. Another video appeared to show wreckage, with the charred fuselage and a rotor resting in a residential alleyway. | In an unverified video posted on the Internet on Monday purporting to show the crash, flames appear around a falling helicopter, before it bursts into a fireball and plummets to the ground. Another video appeared to show wreckage, with the charred fuselage and a rotor resting in a residential alleyway. |
| The Athar brigade, a rebel group, claimed responsibility, saying in a statement that the helicopter had been shot down “with the participation of other brigades.” | The Athar brigade, a rebel group, claimed responsibility, saying in a statement that the helicopter had been shot down “with the participation of other brigades.” |
| Activist groups said that the helicopter had been used in a government assault on rebel fighters in Jobar, a patch of suburbs outside Damascus, the capital, that has been racked by periodic, heavy bouts of fighting since last year. After the helicopter went down on Monday, activists said that government forces had started shelling the area near the crash site. | Activist groups said that the helicopter had been used in a government assault on rebel fighters in Jobar, a patch of suburbs outside Damascus, the capital, that has been racked by periodic, heavy bouts of fighting since last year. After the helicopter went down on Monday, activists said that government forces had started shelling the area near the crash site. |
| Syria’s restrictions on journalists make it impossible to confirm such reports. | Syria’s restrictions on journalists make it impossible to confirm such reports. |
| As it fights an insurgency on several fronts, the Syrian government has become increasingly reliant on warplanes and helicopter gunships to extend its reach. Military analysts say the government may be struggling to keep aloft its fleet of Mi-25 Hind-D attack helicopters, given the scarcity of spare parts and the intensity of the fighting. The government did not identify the type of helicopter that crashed on Monday. Syria was believed to have about three dozen of the Mi-25 Hind-D helicopters before the start of the conflict. | As it fights an insurgency on several fronts, the Syrian government has become increasingly reliant on warplanes and helicopter gunships to extend its reach. Military analysts say the government may be struggling to keep aloft its fleet of Mi-25 Hind-D attack helicopters, given the scarcity of spare parts and the intensity of the fighting. The government did not identify the type of helicopter that crashed on Monday. Syria was believed to have about three dozen of the Mi-25 Hind-D helicopters before the start of the conflict. |
| The fighting on the eastern edges of Damascus came a day after residents in a southern suburb of the city held a mass burial for the victims in one of the deadliest episodes of the conflict. Witnesses and activist groups say attacks in the last week by government forces have left hundreds dead in the Damascus suburb of Daraya. | The fighting on the eastern edges of Damascus came a day after residents in a southern suburb of the city held a mass burial for the victims in one of the deadliest episodes of the conflict. Witnesses and activist groups say attacks in the last week by government forces have left hundreds dead in the Damascus suburb of Daraya. |
| On the Syria border with Turkey, a backup of Syrians trying to flee their country appeared to be growing quickly, with nearly 10,000 massed on the Syrian side awaiting permission to cross, a Turkish government official reported. “There are people sleeping literally on the roadsides,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. | On the Syria border with Turkey, a backup of Syrians trying to flee their country appeared to be growing quickly, with nearly 10,000 massed on the Syrian side awaiting permission to cross, a Turkish government official reported. “There are people sleeping literally on the roadsides,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. |
| Turkey has already taken in more than 80,000 Syrians who have registered with the United Nations refugee agency. Turkey has built nine camps to accommodate them and is scrambling to construct six more, while temporarily housing 19,000 Syrians in student hostels until the new camps are completed. | Turkey has already taken in more than 80,000 Syrians who have registered with the United Nations refugee agency. Turkey has built nine camps to accommodate them and is scrambling to construct six more, while temporarily housing 19,000 Syrians in student hostels until the new camps are completed. |
| The Turks have said they are prepared to accommodate a maximum of 100,000 Syrians, and it remains unclear what will happen when that limit is reached. | The Turks have said they are prepared to accommodate a maximum of 100,000 Syrians, and it remains unclear what will happen when that limit is reached. |
| The number of Syrians who have fled to Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon has surged in recent weeks and now exceeds 200,000, outpacing estimates by international relief agencies, which are struggling to accommodate the increased exodus. Relief officials have attributed the rise in refugees partly to heavy fighting in Aleppo, Syria’s commercial capital, which is near the Turkish border, as well as the intensified military campaigns in the Damascus area and around the southern city of Dara’a near Jordan. | The number of Syrians who have fled to Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon has surged in recent weeks and now exceeds 200,000, outpacing estimates by international relief agencies, which are struggling to accommodate the increased exodus. Relief officials have attributed the rise in refugees partly to heavy fighting in Aleppo, Syria’s commercial capital, which is near the Turkish border, as well as the intensified military campaigns in the Damascus area and around the southern city of Dara’a near Jordan. |
| In a further sign of stress in the relief effort, Unicef issued an urgent appeal on Monday for additional funds to meet emergency needs at the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan near the Syrian border. At least half the population of the camp’s 17,000 people are children. | In a further sign of stress in the relief effort, Unicef issued an urgent appeal on Monday for additional funds to meet emergency needs at the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan near the Syrian border. At least half the population of the camp’s 17,000 people are children. |
| “We expect to have 70,000 people at Za’atari camp by the end of this year,” Unicef’s Jordan representative, Dominique Hyde, said in a statement on the organization’s Web site. “We must act now because it is children who continue to suffer the most.” | “We expect to have 70,000 people at Za’atari camp by the end of this year,” Unicef’s Jordan representative, Dominique Hyde, said in a statement on the organization’s Web site. “We must act now because it is children who continue to suffer the most.” |
Kareem Fahim reported from Beirut, and Rick Gladstone from New York. Hwaida Saad contributed reporting from Beirut, and Sebnem Arsu from Istanbul. | Kareem Fahim reported from Beirut, and Rick Gladstone from New York. Hwaida Saad contributed reporting from Beirut, and Sebnem Arsu from Istanbul. |