LONDON - The European Union threw its political weight behind a newly formed Syrian opposition coalition Monday in a boost to efforts to unite the many factions fighting President Bashar Assad's regime.

The Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces was created this month and comprises dissidents drawn from both inside and outside Syria, as well as from various religious and ethnic minorities.

The EU's move is largely symbolic, but such broad European support offers a morale boost to the opposition coalition riven by sectarian feuding.

LOS ANGELES TIMES