Move reveals differences with UK and US, which have been more guarded in their dealings with Syrian opposition groups
By Julian Borger, Guardian.co.uk, August 27, 2012

The French president, François Hollande, has urged Syria's divided opposition to form a provisional government, saying Paris would give it official recognition. The announcement on Monday came as Syrian fighter plane attacks on eastern suburbs of Damascus killed at least 60 people, according to opposition activists.

Hollande's intervention was aimed at increasing pressure on Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad but it also revealed differences with other western capitals.

American officials said the announcement was premature. "We're nowhere near that yet," one said. Washington and London have been more guarded in their dealings with Syrian opposition groups which they see as too fractured and ineffective to form an alternative government [....]