Official: Opposition to Take Syria Seat at Arab League
The opposition will take over Syria's vacant seat at the Arab League, a high-ranking league official told Agence France Presse Monday, a day ahead of a leaders' summit in Doha.
"The opposition has been invited to the Arab summit and will occupy Syria's seat at the Arab League," the official said.
The opposition National Coalition announced that it would send interim prime minister Ghassan Hitto to the summit. The umbrella group's chief, Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, quit on Sunday.
The opposition alliance has begun steps to form an executive body to administer rebel-held territory inside Syria, electing Ghassan Hitto at a meeting in Turkey earlier this week.
The Arab League on March 6 called on the coalition "to form an executive body to take up Syria's seat" and attend the summit, although Iraq and Algeria have expressed reservations, while Lebanon has distanced itself from the decision.
The League announced on November 12, 2011 that it will suspend Syria after its regime failed to implement an Arab deal to end violence against protesters.
The move came after the regime of President Bashar Assad launched a bloody crackdown on dissent which has since morphed into a civil war in which more than 70,000 people have so far died, according to U.N. figures.
Source: Agence France Presse
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