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Syrian opposition PM 'more Texan than Muslim Brotherhood'
The new Syrian opposition prime minister Ghassan al-Hitto "is more Texan than Muslim Brotherhood," Washington's envoy to Syria Robert Ford told U.S. lawmakers Wednesday.
"I've met him twice... and he struck me as more Texan than Muslim Brotherhood, frankly," Ford said of Hitto, a former IT executive who has lived in the southwestern U.S. state of Texas for decades. "I don't know what his political affiliations are. But I do know that he also has a tolerant vision of Syrian society," Ford stressed. "He has, at some self-sacrifice, gone over to help with the humanitarian crisis in Syria. He did not have to do that." Hitto is expected to name a technocratic government that plans to operate inside Syria, attempting to bring rule of law and basic services to large swathes of rebel-held territory. His election has exposed rifts in the fractured Syrian opposition, with at least 12 key members saying Wednesday they had suspended their membership. "The Coalition is a non-elected body, and as such it does not have a right to choose a prime minister on a majority vote. There should have been consensus," dissenting member Kamal Labwani told AFP in Istanbul. Posted by: tipper 2013-03-21 |
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