Syrian officials on Wednesday lashed out at the exiled opposition groups and particularly their newly formed coalition, regarding it as a political product engineered by foreign powers.

After a five-day meeting held in the Qatari capital of Doha, Syrian opposition signed on Sunday an agreement to form a new coalition called the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces, in hopes of forming a united entity to stand against the administration of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The new coalition is mainly composed of opposition groups outside Syria and also activists from inside the country as well as some rebel commanders.

Once the new coalition gets international approval, its members will form an interim government in exile and will call for a national conference once the Syrian current administration is ousted, according to a draft of the agreement.

Several Arab and Western countries welcomed the formation of the new coalition, while the Gulf States, France and others recognized it as representative of the Syrian people.

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said Doha meeting aimed at setting up an entity of the opposition for conspiring against Syria is a desperate attempt to undermine the morale of the Syrians who adhere to their homeland and its sovereignty.

Al-Zoubi stressed that "the Syrian leadership ... insist on holding a dialogue among the political forces and the representatives of all spectra of the Syrian people, so that any upcoming government will be obliged to the outcome of this dialogue."

For his side, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad stressed that "the opposition, which didn't grow on the Syrian homeland or have the support of the Syrian people, is merely an externally- made structure used to discredit the forces on the homeland.

In an interview with Russia Today TV channel aired on Wednesday, Mikdad said the United States had decided to form a new entity for the opposition after the Syrian National Council (SNC), the main opposition umbrella abroad, failed to "fulfill its (the United States') hopes."

"We in Syria ... say that the crisis in Syria should be solved within a peaceful frame through a national dialogue," Mikdad said, while noting that the first decision taken by the opposition coalition was to reject any national dialogue.

In an apparent response to the Arab League (AL) recognition of the coalition, Mikdad stressed that the AL has become "a useless institution as it succumbs to foreign dictates."

"Syria will defend itself in case of any aggression," said Mikdad, adding that "we will defend our people in legitimate ways that are protected by the international law."?

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