 “Not everybody who is participating on the ground in fighting Assad are people that we are comfortable with,” Mr. Obama said in an interview on the ABC program “20/20.” “There are some who I think have adopted an extremist agenda, an anti-U.S. agenda.” 
 
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 But Mr. Obama praised the opposition, known formally as the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, for what he said was its inclusiveness, its openness to various ethnic and religious groups, and its ties to local councils involved in the fighting against Mr. Assad’s security forces. "We've made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population that we consider them the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in opposition to the Assad regime," Obama said. The United States follows Britain and the European Union, both of which last month recognized the Syrian opposition group. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to formally announce the new relations with the United States during a meeting of international allies supporting Syria's rebels in Marrakech, Morocco, on Wednesday.
– The US will formally recognize Syria's opposition as the country's legitimate representative, Barack Obama announced today in an interview with Barbara Walters on ABC. "It's a big step," Obama said. "We've made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population" to be recognized. The move allows the US to work more closely with the rebels, and opens up the possibility of sending them weapons—though one official said that wasn't in the cards yet. "Not everybody who is participating on the ground in fighting Assad are people that we are comfortable with," Obama added. "There are some who I think have adopted an extremist agenda." The announcement comes just ahead of a meeting of Syrian opposition leaders and their supporters in Morocco, the New York Times observes. It also notes that the move doesn't fully confer the legal authority of a state; the opposition can't, for example, access Syrian government money or take over the regime's Washington embassy.