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France Says It Would Recognize Provisional Syrian Government France Says It Would Recognize Provisional Syrian Government
(35 minutes later)
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. PARIS — France will recognize a provisional Syrian government as soon as it has been formed, President François Hollande said on Monday, urging Syria’s fractured political opposition to establish one as soon as possible.
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 to identify the rebel groups that receive arms — they have not explicitly stated they would recognize a provisional government formed by Mr. Assad’s array of political enemies. Mr. Hollande also said that France, like the United States and Britain, would view any use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad of Syria as a legitimate justification for military intervention, even without a United Nations Security Council resolution.
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. “With our partners we remain very vigilant regarding preventing the use of chemical weapons, which for the international community would be a legitimate reason for direct intervention,” Mr. Hollande said during an annual foreign policy speech to French ambassadors, his first as president.
“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.” The statements by Mr. Hollande represented the most forceful attempt by the group of Western nations calling for Mr. Assad’s ouster to nudge Syria’s marginalized and often squabbling opposition groupings toward unity.
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. Despite repeated attempts, those groups, which include many exile figures, have failed to agree on a common approach to ending Mr. Assad’s rule, or to gain credibility, especially with Syrians inside the country. As the violence reaches deadlier peaks, attention has shifted to armed rebel groups, who have become the most prominent face of a rebellion that started almost 18-months ago with street protests.
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. “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 said. “We are including our Arab partners to accelerate this step,” he said, adding: "France will recognize the provisional government of Syria once it is formed."
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 French leader also reiterated a warning made by President Obama a week ago, seconded a few days later by Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, that that military intervention could be justified if the Syrian government used unconventional weapons or moved them in a threatening fashion. Syria has said that it would only use such weapons in the event of an external attack.
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.” Mr. Hollande also confirmed that France was working with other countries on the possibility of establishing “buffer zones” inside Syria, presumably if the opposition forces can create them. The zones, formally to protect refugees, were an idea floated by Turkey, which has resisted suggestions that it use its own forces to invade Syria and create such zones for the Free Syrian Army and other rebels.
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. The French defense minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, has already spoken of possible “no-fly zones” over Syrian territory, from the Turkish border to Aleppo, to protect refugees, but he has provided no further details. He said the idea originated with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and was being studied.
Syria’s restrictions on journalists make it impossible to confirm such reports. Mr. Hollande also said that France continued to press the Security Council for a new, more far-reaching resolution on Syria and criticized Russia and China for using their vetoes to protect Mr. Assad. He said that their "attitude is weakening our capacity to ensure the United Nations Charter is respected."
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. His comments as some of the war’s deadliest violence remained focused on the outskirts of Damascus. In Daraya, southwest of the capital, opposition activists have accused the government of killing hundreds of people over the last week during a military assault.
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. In recent days, residents have spoken of a brutal “cleansing” operation by the military, deploying helicopters, heavy artillery and tanks to dislodge a large contingent of rebel fighters who had made Daraya a stronghold. Mass burials were held on Sunday, for victims that included women and children.
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. Refugees from Daraya who reached Lebanon on Monday spoke of bodies lying on residential streets and town squares, and city choked by the smell of death. A 17-year old refugee who fled with her family said that many of the dead were rebel fighters, but other victims, like her uncle, who she claimed had no ties to the rebels, were seized by government troops and later turned up dead, she said.
Her uncle, a 40-year old bus driver, was taken by soldiers last Monday as he walked neighbors to a bomb shelter, she said. The next day, his body was found with knife and bullet wounds. His family, too frightened to attend his funeral, found a picture of his corpse the Internet. Now his niece keeps the picture on her cellphone.
Also on Monday, 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. Another video appeared to show charred wreckage.
Activist groups said that the helicopter had been used in a government assault on rebel fighters in Jobar, a patch of suburbs outside Damascus that has been racked by periodic 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.
On the Syrian border with Turkey, a backup of Syrians trying to flee appeared to be growing quickly, with nearly 10,000 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.
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.” .”

Kareem Fahim reported from Beirut, and Rick Gladstone from New York. Hwaida Saad contributed reporting from Beirut, and Sebnem Arsu from Istanbul.

Reporting was contributed by Kareem Fahim and Hwaida Saad from Beirut, Lebanon, Sebnem Arsu from Istanbul, and Rick Gladstone from New York.