Syrian 'transitional government' set up in Paris

Exiled Syrian businessman Nofal Dawalibi announced in Paris on Thursday the setting up of a "transitional government to answer the needs of the Syrian opposition." "The situation in Syria is getting worse every day. Chaos is rising," said Dawalibi, whose father Maarrouf was Syrian prime minister before President Bashar al-Assad's Baath party took power in 1963. "We have decided to replace existing structures with a purely executive structure which coordinates the operations of the divisions fighting for freedom and follows the will of the sovereign Syrian people," he told reporters. He did not specify how the "transitional government" would coordinate with the Syrian National Council (SNC) headed by exiled academic Burhan Ghalioun that is considered the Syrian opposition's most representative political body. Armed opposition to President Bashar al-Assad's regime is centred on the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Dawalibi said that "many" members of the SNC and the FSA backed his transitional government, although others were subject to "pressure". "Unfortunately the SNC, which chose a legislative body while ours is an executive body, could not prove that its structure represents the Syrian people and the revolution," he said. The "transitional government's" objectives are to arm anti-regime fighters, to implement "direct international military intervention" and ensure the return of security and stability to Syria," Dawalibi said. The names of the 35 Syrians making up the "transitional government", described as civilians and soldiers within Syria, "will for security reasons be announced in a few days," he said. A truce in Syria brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan earlier this month has failed to take hold, with unrest and killings reported on a daily basis in various parts of the country. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe on Wednesday said that given the persistent violence, the UN-backed peace plan was "seriously compromised" and held out the threat of seeking military action to end the regime's crackdown.