BEIRUT: The Local Coordination Committees, a network of pro-uprising activists inside Syria, urged the National Coalition to adhere to its announced set of goals in order to deserve the status of the Syrian people’s legitimate representative.

The group issued a statement late Sunday announcing that it was a part of the new coalition, and called its founding principles a “cornerstone in the drive to seeing this coalition acquire the legitimacy of representing the revolution and the Syrian people, who aspire to freedom.”

It said this legitimacy would allow the National Coalition to obtain the means needed to bring down the regime of President Bashar Assad, protect civilians, and establish a state based on “rights, freedoms and citizenship.”

The LCC said it fully supported the National Coalition’s guiding principles, which include toppling the Assad regime, rejecting dialogue or negotiations with the regime, supporting the Revolutionary Military Councils, dismantling the country’s security bodies and holding accountable those responsible for “killing Syrians and destroying the country.”

Just prior to the formation of the National Coalition in Doha, the LCC withdrew from the Syrian National Council, which had earlier sought to be the leading opposition group.