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Syrian Forces Shell Cities as Opposition Picks Leader
SNC Gets New Leader; Insurgency Grows; Foreign Jihadists Flock to Syria; Some Claim Houla Dead are AlawisSyrian government forces shelled rebel strongholds across the country on Sunday, opponents of the government said, while the main opposition group in exile, the Syrian National Council, chose a new leader . Abdelbaset Sieda, a Kurdish professor of Arabic and philosophy who promised the organization would be overhauled. We will expand and extend the base of the council, he told reporters at a news conference, so it will take on its role as an umbrella under which all the opposition will seek shade. The Syrian National Council, formed last fall, has been plagued by infighting and has been criticized as ineffective, amounting to little more than a front for the long-exiled Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood with little influence inside the country. Its top post was supposed to rotate every three months, but Bourhan Ghalioun, another exiled academic, held on to it until an outcry over his most recent re-election in May, especially from inside Syria, prompted him to step down. Council members involved in the process hailed Mr. Siedas election as proof that the Syrian opposition was committed to upholding democratic principles and the idea of a leaderless revolution. He ran unopposed. The ideal leadership of the council is not through one person because no one is elected and has actual legitimacy, said Bassma Kodmani, a member of the executive committee. Until such time as there are free elections in Syria, she said, the choice of the president of the council should be made by consensus. The revolution does not want to see a big leader, or one individual who leads everything, Ms. Kodmani said. Personalization leads to polarization. Posted by: tipper 2012-06-11 |
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