Cairo, Nov 13 (IANS): The Arab League (AL) Monday recognised the newly-formed Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces as the "representative of the aspirations of Syrian people", said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani.

He was speaking after a meeting of the Arab foreign ministers.

On Monday, foreign ministers of Arab countries gathered at the AL headquarters in Cairo for a ministerial meeting at night, with current developments of the Syrian issue and the Palestinian UN bid on the top of their agenda, Xinhua reported.

Ahead of the meet, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC) also recognised the new Syrian opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

The new Syrian coalition was established after a formal agreement was signed Sunday evening in Doha by Moaz al- Khatib, the newly-elected head of the united entity, and George Sabra, the new head of major opposition group the Syrian National Council (SNC).

The GCC, founded in 1981, consists of six Gulf countries -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.