Inside Info on Hitto’s Appointment

Nidal Hmedeh - Paris

Al-Ahed News website learnt from well-informed sources on Head of the Syrian Coalition Ghassan Hitto's appointment that the severe disagreements of the session lasted until 10 pm. The United States Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford then intervened and settled matters to appoint Ghassan Hitto as the Prime Minister of a government to be formed after the Arab League Summit due on March 26.
This comes after the deputy chief of the opposition's so-called National Coalition Souheir Atasi suspended her membership, justifying that "I am a Syrian citizen and do not accept to be neither a sheep nor an adornment."
Moreover, well-informed sources stated, "Disagreements were basically about the formation of the government, in which some parties demanded to form an executive committee instead of a government, due to the inconsistency of the internal opposition and the opposition abroad, as well as the refusal of the armed groups in Syria to be politically sponsored by foreign residents.

Some protested that a government like this will be the beginning of division in Syria, since many powerful countries active in the Syrian crisis will not acknowledge it, such as the BRICS, Iran, Latin America, and Syria's neighboring countries like Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon.

Differences became tense during the evening session, which obliged the US's Ambassador to intervene and demanded votes to be in favor of Ghassan Hitto. More than a third of the attendees withdrew and the voting process took place in which each candidate reaped:

33 votes for Ghassan Hitto
11 votes for Asaad Mustaf
2 votes for Walid al-Zoube
The candidate with the least number of votes is a businessman from Daraa province, and the Muslim Brotherhood promised him his appointment as Prime Minister of the transitory government in return for joining the Syrian Coalition.
According to sources in the Syrian opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood told al-Zoube that they would make him the Rafik Hariri of Syria.
 Ghassan Hitto's name was leaked to be most likely to win in voting on Monday night, before the US intervention by a few hours. Hitto has a double nationality (American-Syrian). He lives in the United States and is close to the Muslim Brotherhood. He is also an employee in the Democratic National Committee with a salary of 80 thousand dollars.
On this note, the reactions on this appointment were immediate. Chief of the Higher Military Revolutionary Council dissident General Mustafa al-Sheikh declared his rejection of Hitto's appointment as well as armed groups in the Syrian North.

Source: al-Ahed News, translated and edited by moqawama.org