04 N National News
WEDNESDAY, May 22nd 2013
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Syrian opposition meets in Madrid
King gives up luxury yacht
The main Syrian opposition groups have met in Madrid in an attempt to find a credible and internationally acceptable solution to the civil war.
King Juan Carlos has renounced the use of his luxury yacht, which costs the taxpayer €25,000 to refuel, as the royal family's most recent contribution to the austerity cuts affecting millions of Spaniards. The 35-ton vessel "Fortuna" was bought for the King's use in 2000 by a group of businesses on the Balearic Islands, where the Royal family have their summer palace and spend several weeks a year on holiday.
The yacht, which cost €21 million, was the last of several that had played host to visiting dignitaries including the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1990. For the last 12 years the Fortuna has provided thousands of photo opportunities, with the king at the helm of the 136-foot motor yacht cruising around the waters off Majorca while various members of his family took the sun on its deck. The yacht was one of the King's most prized possessions but he decided
to give it up amid growing resentment at the privileges enjoyed by the elite in a country where millions of poorer people are suffering serious economic hardship.
A spokesman for the Royal Palace announced last week: ”The King has taken the decision to ask the National Heritage to proceed with the release of the asset.” A source inside the palace said: "It wasn't something he felt comfortable with any longer.”
Some 86 members of opposition groups participated in the twoday Meeting for National Syrian Consultation, which was sponsored by the Spain's Foreign Ministry. The groups attending the meeting included the Free Syrian Army, which coordinates rebel actions in the country, and radical Islamist militias, led by the Al-Nusra Front.
However, Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo said that the factions attending the meeting represent the more moderate sector of the opposition. The supply of arms to the rebels is
Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo
currently blocked and military intervention vetoed by China and Russia.
One of the objects of the Madrid meeting is to give Brussels new guarantees ahead of a May 31st debate on lifting the arms embargo. Spain has supplied €4.7 million in humanitarian aid since the rebellion of March 2011 and the subsequent
civil war. The government has maintained communication with the opposition in exile and groups within Syria that propose a political transition without AlAssad but with some members of the existing apparatus.
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