Syria's main opposition body on Sunday approved a new delegation to take part in Geneva peace talks later this month. The High Negotiation Committee, (HNC) the main umbrella group, said in a statement, that the new 21-member negotiating team included members of two dissident alliances with which it has previously been at odds, Reuters reported. Those two alliances -- the so-called Moscow and Cairo groups -- have long disavowed the armed rebellion and insisted that political change can only come through peaceful activism. Their members include a former Syrian government minister with close ties to Moscow. Mohammad Sabra, who was appointed as chief negotiator said that the delegation brought together various groups. He also accused unnamed foreign powers of trying to impose their views on the composition of the delegation, an apparent reference to Russia. The body also chose a new head of the negotiating team, Nasr al Hariri, a veteran opposition figure from southern Syria.
