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Syrian opposition announces ‘national council’

ISTANBUL — Members of the Syrian opposition gathered in Istanbul on Thursday announced a list of 140 dissidents forming a “national council” they established in August.

The council will be aiming to coordinate the opposition’s policies against the Syrian leadership.

Sixty percent of the members live in Syria, while the remainder are in exile, Abdulbaset Sida, a council member, told a press conference.

The organisers disclosed only 72 names of council members and kept the rest confidential for what they said were security reasons.

“After completing the first level of consultative meetings, groups of revolutionary youth, political movements and personalities, activists and technocrats decided to found the Syrian National Council,” a spokeswoman, Basma Qadmani, said.

Yasser Tabbara, another member of the council, said it had not yet elected a president. “We are in a democratic process. This is an inaugural meeting,” he told AFP.

Canada, the Netherlands, Japan and Sudan sent diplomats as observers to the press conference, Obeida Nahas, another council member, said.