Beirut: In the strange and dysfunctional world of Syria’s opposition, a committee is being formed tasked with the forming of another committee to negotiate on the behalf of a ‘united’ Syrian opposition.
Former Prime Minister Riad Hijab, who defected from the Syrian regime in 2012, will likely head the group.
The Higher Committee will be tasked with choosing a 15-person committee to sit down with the Syrian government face-to-face in January. The Turkish-backed Syrian National Coalition already has already been given six seats while the National Coordination Committee, considered to be ‘regime-friendly’, has three. Four seats will go to military officers and two will go to independents.
Hijab, a former Baathist who also served as Syria’s agriculture minister, will head the team consisting of 11 men from rebel fighter groups, nine from the SNC and five from the NCC. The rest are independents coming from smaller political parties.
