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Syrian opposition group elects new leader | Syrian opposition group elects new leader |
(about 2 hours later) | |
BEIRUT — One of the main Western-backed Syrian opposition groups elected a new leader Saturday after the term of its former chief ended, it said in a statement. | |
The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition said longtime member Anas al-Abda was elected president, replacing Khaled Khoja. It added that three other officials from the group have been named vice presidents. | |
The coalition was once the main Western-backed opposition group. It is currently part of the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee, which was to represent the opposition in indirect peace talks with the Syrian government next week in Geneva. | |
However, the talks was thrown into doubt Friday, when HNC chief Riad Hijab said that circumstances were not suitable to resume the talks next week. | |
Despite a truce brokered by the U.S. and Russia, Syrian military operations are still ongoing, detainees have not been released by Damascus and little aid is entering rebel-held besieged areas, Hijab said in Paris. | |
The cease-fire went into effect on Feb. 27 and since then violence has dropped. The cease-fire does not include the Islamic State group and the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria known as the Nusra Front. | |
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group that tracks Syria’s civil war, reported on Saturday that during the first week of the cease-fire, 132 people, including 35 civilians, were killed in areas included in the agreement. | |
The group said another 552 people were killed in areas where IS has a significant presence. | |
That would represent a significant decline since before the cease-fire, when around 5,000 people were killed each month in Syria. The five-year war has killed at least 250,000 people and displaced half the country’s population. | |
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
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