AMMAN: Details emerged yesterday of plans to reshape SyriaÂ’s opposition into a representative government-in-exile, on the eve of key talks between regime opponents. The talks starting today in Doha come amid US criticism of the main exiled opposition group, the Syrian National Council (SNC), which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this week was not representative.
Reports have emerged that Washington is pressing for an overhaul of the opposition, with long-time dissident Riad Seif touted as the potential head of a new government-in-exile dubbed the Syrian National Initiative.
Seif and about two dozen other leading opposition figures gathered in JordanÂ’s capital Amman this week and came up with proposals for a new body to represent the disparate groups opposing President Bashar Assad. |