First Syrian opposition embassy opens in Qatar
Prime Minister of the interim government of Syria Ghassan Hitto (2R), head of the Syrian opposition delegation, Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib (L), and Syrian National Council (SNC) President George Sabra (R) at the inauguration of the first Syrian interim government embassy in Doha on March 27, 2013.
Syria's main opposition bloc opened its first embassy in Qatar on Wednesday.
It's another diplomatic blow for President Bashar al-Assad this week. On Tuesday the rebel National Coalition was given Syria's seat at the Arab League summit.
The Syrian embassy of Assad's government is still closed. Diplomatic ties were severed between Qatar and Syria in Nov. 2011 due to the Syrian government's bloody and violent crackdown on public dissent.
Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, the current caretaker-leader of the opposition group, attended the event with the interim government's Prime Minister Ghassan Hitto and Syrian National Council President George Sabra.
At the newly dubbed "Embassy of the Syrian National Coalition," Khatib criticized the international community for their lack of effort to support the rebel cause.
"There is an international willingness for the revolution not to triumph," he told reporters at the embassy.
Since Syria's civil war began in 2011, the United Nations estimates that more than 70,000 people have been killed while millions have been displaced.