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Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
Syrian opposition leader steps down | |
2013-03-25 | |
[EDITION.CNN] Syrian opposition leader Moaz al-Khatib resigned Sunday and accused world powers of using the Syrian crisis to advance their own interests. "I promised the Syrian people and God to resign if matters reach some red lines," he said in a statement announcing his resignation as head of the Syrian National Coalition. He stepped down, he said, "so I could work with more freedom unavailable to me within the official position of the organization." Last week, a Syrian opposition alliance elected Ghassan Hitto -- who had studied and lived in the United States -- to lead the opposition's interim government. Hitto went to Syria on Sunday, according to a Facebook post from the Syrian National Coalition, crossing the border with Turkey and meeting with rebel leaders in Aleppo.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he liked al-Khatib personally and was sad to see him go, but it wasn't unexpected. "The notion he might resign has been expressed on many an occasion and is not a surprise," Kerry said. Change within the opposition leadership is inevitable, and the United States "views this as a continuum," he said. | |
Posted by:Fred |