[Egypt Independent] Syria's main opposition National Coalition early Tuesday elected Ghassan Hitto, a former US-based IT executive with Islamist leanings, as prime minister for Syrian rebel-held territory.In a new challenge to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, the Coalition appointed Hitto after some 14 hours of closed-door consultations in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
Hitto arrived in the conference hall minutes after he won 35 out of 49 votes from the Coalition, and was met with a round of applause as he shook hands with Coalition members.
"We say to you (the Syrian people) that we are with you, and that, God willing, we are victorious" over Assad's regime, Hitto told reporters later, as he praised the "great" Syrian people.
"We will announce this government's programme soon," added the country's first rebel premier, voted in more than two years after the outbreak of an anti-Assad revolt that has turned into a civil war.
Coalition members say the prime minister's first task will be to form an interim government, which he should put to a vote to the Coalition's general assembly.
Hitto plans to be based inside rebel-held parts of Syria, from where he and his future government will help administer swathes of territory that are mired in poverty and insecurity.
Opposition members in Istanbul hoped the vote would attract much-needed weapons and humanitarian aid from the international community.
Some Coalition members described Hitto as a consensus candidate pleasing both the opposition's Islamist and liberal factions.
But some of the 70-odd Coalition members withdrew from the consultations before the vote could take place, reflecting divisions within Syria's opposition.
When the voting finally happened, the remaining Coalition members placed their ballots in a transparent box located at the front of a conference hall in an Istanbul hotel, where the much-awaited meeting took place.
"This is a transparent, democratic vote," said Coalition chief Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib.