US approved Diplomatic Mission for Syrian opposition in Washington

The Obama administration on 5 May 2014 gave approval to the Syrian opposition to open its formal diplomatic mission in Washington. This office will not be an embassy but will be considered as a foreign mission under the US law.

Apart from this, the administration also announced an increase in the non-lethal assistance for them by 27 million US dollar. Earlier in December 2012, it recognised the council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

This announcement of the State Department has upgraded the status of the Syrian Opposition Council that previously was represented by an informal liaison office. The announcement came a week ahead of a meeting between the senior US officials and Ahmad al-Jarba, the visiting president of the opposition council.

Earlier, in March 2014 the State Department suspended operations of the Syrian Embassy in Washington that represented the Assad government.