BEIRUT — The main Western-backed Syrian opposition group elected a former political prisoner Saturday as its new president, filling a post that has been vacant for months due to divisions among President Bashar Al-Assad's opponents. The Syrian National Coalition (SNC) said in a statement that Ahmad Al-Jarba received 55 votes from the 114-member council in the poll that took place in the Turkish city of Istanbul, where many Syrian opposition figures are based. Al-Jarba is from the northeastern province of Hassakeh, and is a member of the powerful Shammar tribe that extends into Iraq. He and other SNC members could not be immediately reached for comment Saturday. The opposition coalition also elected three vice presidents including Mohammed Farouk Taifour, a senior official with Syria's Muslim Brotherhood. The other two vice presidents are Salem Al-Mislit and prominent opposition figure Suhair Atassi. Badr Jamous was voted in as the SNC's secretary general. The SNC meeting is the second attempt in recent months by Assad's opponents to unify their ranks. The opposition bloc is primarily composed of exiled politicians with little support among Syrians inside the country who are trying to survive the third summer of conflict that has killed more than 93,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes. — AP
