"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. Change within the opposition leadership is inevitable, and the United States "views this as a continuum," he said. |
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.