Report: U.S. secretly cultivating Syrian opposition to Assad

NEW YORK: The United States administration is secretly working to cultivate and strengthen the Syrian opposition, in order to undermine Syrian President Bashar Assad's rule and bring about his overthrow, according to the TIME Magazine Web site.

The report exposes a classified document, according to which the administration is trying to strengthen the Syrian opposition prior to the elections, which are expected to take place in March as part of the U.S. push for increased democracy in the region.

The document includes detailed proposals and recommendations for taking advantage of the Syrian elections in order to undermine Assad's regime. According to the document, the U.S. already is "supporting regular meetings of internal and diaspora Syrian activists" in Europe.

The document's authors, who are not identified in the TIME report, express the hope that "these meetings will facilitate a more coherent strategy and plan of actions for all anti-Assad activists." According to TIME, the document suggests funding a senior Syrian politician who intends to run in the elections.

Nonetheless, according to TIME, the some critics in the administration and Congress have rejected the document's recommendations, calling the plan an attempt to influence a foreign government and thus would be defined as a "covert action.," requiring the administration to inform the congressional intelligence committees.

"Some in Congress would undoubtedly raise objections to this secret use of publicly appropriated funds to promote democracy," the TIME report said.

	Syrian President Bashar Assad. (AP)