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Mouaz al-Khatib has been named head of the National Coalition of Forces of the the Syrian Revolution and Opposition.
Activist preacher Mouaz al-Khatib has been elected as the first leader of a new Syrian opposition umbrella group that hopes to win international recognition and prepare for the overthrow of President Bashar Assad.
Khatib, a former imam at the famous Umayyad mosque in Damascus, was voted as president in a poll in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Sunday.
Riad Seif, who proposed the initiative to form the new group, and female activist Suhair al-Atassi were chosen as deputies.
Delegates, who had struggled for days to find the unity their Western and Arab backers have long urged, said the coalition would ensure a voice for religious and ethnic minorities and for the rebels fighting on the ground, who have complained of being overlooked by exiled dissident groups.
Analysis: US loses patience with Syria opposition group
Khatib, an Islamist moderate who fled Syria earlier this year, is a soft-spoken preacher who reached out to minorities early in the revolt. He once made a speech in the conservative Sunni town of Douma, flanked by a prominent Christian and a well-known Alawite.
'Famous man'
Minorities, including Assad's Alawi sect, have largely backed the authorities during the revolt, fearing that Islamists from the Sunni majority will take over - fears fanned by Assad.
"(Khatib) is from Damascus and is a famous man from there. I think this is a serious step against the regime, and a serious step towards freedom," said George Sabra, head of the Syrian National Council that U.S. and Qatari officials spent last week persuading to accept the creation of a more inclusive new body.
NBC News
People resisting the army of President Bashar al-Assad in northern Syria cope with loss and prepare for fighting.
Burhan Ghalioun, a former head of the old Syrian National Council, praised the new coalition, telling the New York Times: “I think the difference will start to show right away on the ground as the people will feel that there is a political power that represents them, and one body that unites its opposition. [Khatib] is a national figure and symbol since the beginning of the revolution.”
The new organization has been titled the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces, although Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall reported that the name was likely to change again to avoid confusion with the old body when reduced to its acronym of SNC.
Israel drawn into Syria conflict, fires missile across border
Khatib will automatically become the focal point for opposition activities in a rapidly developing conflict in which Washington and its allies have been concerned that a sudden collapse of Assad's rule could see anti-Western militants benefit from chaos to seize control of a large and pivotal country at the heart of the Middle East.
The new body will seek to become the sole address for military and humanitarian aid to Syria, though the United States has made clear it will not shift from its position of no direct military intervention.
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A look back at the violence that has overtaken the country
Officials from the United States and Qatar, the tiny Gulf emirate whose oil and gas wealth has helped fund the 20-month-old uprising, had lost faith in the SNC, which they saw as disconnected from events on the ground and riven by disputes.
Qatar and Turkey, which has also been at the forefront of international efforts to bring down Assad, issued a call for full international backing for the new body.
"Trust us that we will strive from now on to have this new body recognised completely by all parties... as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people," Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim told reporters after Khatib was elected in the Doha Sheraton hotel.
Syrian rebels claim to have seized a key crossing point along the Syria-Turkey border, which could create access point for weapons and fighters to enter the country and an exit point for refugees. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Cairo.
The Arab League is expected to allow the group to take over Syria's representation on that inter-governmental body - from which Assad was suspended. Efforts to win wider international recognition, including at the United Nations, could follow.
Turkey's foreign minister said the formation of the National Coalition meant the opposition was no longer divided.
"The friends of Syria... should support this agreement... There is no excuse anymore," Ahmed Davutoglu said. "All those who support the rightful struggle of the Syrian people should declare clear support for this agreement and be more active."
Delegates said there would be specific representation for women and ethnic Kurds as well as for Christians and Alawites, but some had not yet fully signed on.
Machine guns operated by motorcycle brakes? Get a glimpse at the rebels fighting against Assad's forces in Syria's mountainous Jabal al-Zawiya area.
Under the agreement outlined in Doha, the SNC will be among groups to have seats in an assembly of 55 to 60 members under a president, two deputies and a secretary general, all of whom may be elected later on Sunday. The SNC will have up to 22 seats.
Delegates said the coalition would try to form a 10-member transitional government in the coming weeks - along the lines of Libya's Transitional National Council, which was formed during last year's uprising and took power when Muammar Gaddafi fell.
Rebels have been at the mercy of Assad's air force, putting them at a critical disadvantage. The conflict has cost more than 38,000 lives and threatens to spill into neighboring countries.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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This is an internal matter for the Syrian people and the USA should not be involved in this religious nonsense of the soft spoken "islamist preacher".These people will never stop killing each other,so the best thing we can do is stay out of their way
"Activist preacher Mouaz al-Khatib has been elected as the first leader of a new Syrian opposition umbrella group that hopes to win international recognition and prepare for the overthrow of President Bashar Assad."
This is just another joke. Another Sunni Islamic hater and killer with a different face ("moderate"/"liberal"/"secular"/ ...) cover to fool!
The whole dramas are led by the seventh century despotic, highly corrupt bigoted, barbaric and beastly Sunni Saudi ruler with 5000 princes and princesses, Qatari, Kuwaiti, UAE and other Sunni Arab League leaders. They want the Sunni extremist brand of Wahhabi/Salaffi Islam rule in Syria and other places.
Most Sunni radical and killer organizations like al Qaida, MB, Taliban and other label ones hate US, Britain, West, Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims most.
Still, when it comes to taking help on deciding the winners in their Shiites vs Sunni BVattles, these shamless Sunni international liabilities and curses on earth, do different dramas like the ones we are noticing in Syria and Iran.
We saw them in Iraq, Libya and other places.
We have NO ROLES IN SYRIA, IRAN OR ANY OTHER MUSLIM NATION.
For a change, let these haters and killers handle their own Shiites vs Sunni battles.
This should clear away the doubt. Yes, the authoritarian regime in power in Syria is violent, ruthless and oppressive. But the forces fighting to overthrow the regime are Islamic extremists. As bad as the present dictatorship in Syria is, the imposition of another tyrannical Islamic dictatorship will be far worse for Syria and the region. There are probably many poor souls in Syria who dream of freedom and democracy, but they will be crushed no matter who wins the civil war. One thing for sure, we should not get involved.
"The tyrannical dictatorship will be far worse." now you don't know that for sure, you're speculating. Look at it this way, what have they got to lose? nothing but they, Syrians, stand to gain a lot, maybe. In our view it's a coin toss but not in their views. Heck we do this every 4 years.
Why do you wish to diffuse the issue? A preacher is generally thought to be of the Christian faith. The word commonly used to describe a Muslim is a cleric. I cannot but believe that this msiuse of this term is intentional. The question remains as to why. It would appear that you are trying to promote this guy by pulling the wool over your readership's eyes. Shame on you - you should be reporting the news in an unbiased manner.
I appreciate your comment, but I think the intention was to remove the bias existent in the word "cleric" when it is used in the West by using the equivalent protestant word rather than to mislead. It is common knowledge that Catholics have priests, Jews have rabbis, Buddhists have monks, Muslims have clerics and Christians have preachers. Same function, different names. Words can be like drugs, use or misuse can be in the eye of the beholder.
I thought a preacher was just someone who preached for a living. If there is any particular religion it's affiliated with, I've never heard of it. I hardly think that's evidence of bias.
Just examine the most ungrateful and backstabbing Sunni Saudis and their gangs.
NATO forces saved the Sunni House of Saud ruler and his 5000 princes and princesses and their holy places, Kuwaiti ruler with 65 wives at one time, UAE, Qatari and others from Saddam's gangs.
Just as in Iraq, oil rich Sunni seventh century bigoted Saudi barbaric and beastly rulers and their Sunni pals (Qatari, Kuwait, UAE and others), oil companies, lobbyists and Jewish mad people (Netanyahos and co), bankers, Wall Street are repeating their seventh century desert dances through their cheap US puppets on Iran and Syria.
We have sanctions on Iranian oil and oil price hikes oil prices manipulations higher and higher by Saudis & co and oil companies.
US, British, French and others invented Iraq wars and danced as Saudis, oil companies, bankers and other greedy directed.
They gave us:
1. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and other rich ME sharks became richer by manipulating oil prices too high.
2. Oil companies and their lobbyists also benefitted. Oil prices, which were hardly $30 a barrel before 1991, shot up to $140 a barrel.
3. Since 2003, future traders, rating agencies, Wall Street and oil companies and their lobbyists transferred five trillion dollars from oil importing countries to oil exporting nations.
4. Rich Sunni ME sharks (Saudi Arabia in particular) funded Salaffi and Wahhabi mosques and Islamic radicals and terrorists all over the world. These Sunni Islamic radicals and terrorists are rampaging all over the world. World’s 80 percent of problems are due to them.
We have PIIGS.
Now we have austerity measures!
But many world leaders do have plenty of monies for interventions/wars in Syria and Iran.
Who with little sense impose sanctions on Iranian oil and manipulate oil prices higher from $40 in 2009 to around $110 now?
"Soft spoken PREACHER" ... that does not even make sense msnbc ... but what a great way to lull americans to sleep over the issues~ selah #goodmorningjo
Several points. Firstly, a significant percentage of the rebels fighting on the ground are salafist or worse. If they have a strong voice in this council expect it to fracture, just as Syria has. Also, if it survives they will probably become the real power - and the outcome will perhaps be even less to the liking of the US. Finally, I observed a TV interview with civilian Turks, and they express dismay at their own governments involvement with this war, and more to the point the camera caught what looked exactly like rebels firing a missile from inside Turkish territory, across the border fence, into Syria. If so, then that perfectly delineates the actual Turkish government involvement - and perhaps the idea is indeed to provoke full scale cross border fighting, and perhaps this is why there has been some limited cross border incidents.
Syrian rebels are nothing but a bunch of Islamic terrorists, whose methods mirror the war crimes of the Syrian government.
An "Imam" is going to run the country? Oh yeah, that is good news. I smell IRAN here.
Our Middle East policies have been a disaster under Obama. It has been run more like a jihad against established governments of the Middle East.
I can't help but wonder how much of an impact on Obama's thinking has been influenced by the 2 years he spent studying at a Muslim school in Jakarta. It had to make an impression on him.
@Bill - our ME policies have been a disaster because we blindly support Israel. And let's not forget Dubia and the warmongering Jewish neocons who gave us wars in Iraq and Afganistan promising WMD's in every bunker and a cake walk paid for by Iraqi oil revenues...
That's all fine, but it has nothing to do with Syria. That popped up on Obama's radar and he has no one else to blame for America's official responses. Iraq is over and done with, just like the election; get over it. It's a new decade and a new batch of problems from the world's hornet nest.