Syrian opposition leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib resigns
BBC News online - 24 March 2013
Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib's resignation may intensify concerns about opposition divisions
The leader of the opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC), Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, has resigned.
Mr Khatib wrote on Facebook that world powers had failed to
help the rebels, and he could only improve the situation by working
outside of the coalition.Analysts say Mr Khatib believed the SNC was too heavily influenced by Islamists and foreign powers like Qatar.
It is thought that he objected to last week's election of a prime minister for an interim opposition government.
The SNC chose US-based Islamist Ghassan Hitto to head the alternative administration, which is intended to govern rebel-held areas from inside Syria.
Mr Hitto's election in Istanbul last Monday was described by some coalition leaders as a "transparent, democratic" election, but it also prompted several resignations from the SNC.
And the military wing of the opposition, the Free Syrian Army, has also said it would not recognise Mr Hitto because he had been forced on the opposition.
Analysis
Irrespective of his reasons for doing it, which he did not spell out, Moaz al-Khatib's surprise resignation further enhances the impression of a Syrian opposition divided, in disarray, pushed and pulled by conflicting cross-currents of support and external pressures, and out of touch with realities inside the country.
The respected former Damascus preacher had been in office barely four months before giving up.
The issues hinted at in his resignation announcement - mainly the absence of tangible international backing to enable the rebels to tilt the balance against the regime - were extant throughout his brief reign.
What seems to have brought matters to a head was the election last week of formerly US-based IT expert Ghassan Hitto as prime minister of a yet-to-be-formed interim opposition government.
Mr Khatib was in principle against the idea of such an entity - which would further dim any hope for the surprise offer he launched at the end of January of dialogue with representatives of the regime. He may have feared that Mr Hitto's election would further distance the outside opposition leadership from what is going on inside Syria.
Mr Khatib, who was elected head of the SNC in November 2012, is seen as a respected and unifying figure in Syria.
"I announce my resignation from the National Coalition, so that I can work with a freedom that cannot possibly be had in an official institution," he said.
"For the past two years, we have been slaughtered by an unprecedentedly vicious regime, while the world has looked on.
"All the destruction of Syria's infrastructure, the detention of tens of thousands of people, the forced flight of hundreds of thousands and other forms of suffering have been insufficient for the international community to take a decision to allow the people to defend themselves."
Mr Khatib caused controversy in January by offering talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on condition that 160,000 prisoners were freed.
The opposition had previously insisted Mr Assad step down before any talks could begin.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said he liked Mr Khatib on a personal level and was sorry to hear about the resignation.
However, Mr Kerry added: "The notion that he might resign has frankly been expressed by him on many different occasions in many different places and it is not a surprise."
Mr Khatib's resignation comes a day after European Union foreign ministers failed to resolve their differences over whether to exempt Syrian rebels from an arms embargo.
Correspondents say divisions within the opposition are the main concern for international backers.
Labels: Conflict, Controversy, Crisis Politics, Islamists, Munitions, Revolution, Syria, United States
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, March 24, 2013
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