ISTANBUL
Ahmed Jarba was elected Saturday as the new president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (or SNC), an umbrella organization of the opposition groups fighting to topple Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.
Jarba got the backing of 55 members out of 114 in an election in Istanbul.
SNC Secretary-General Mustafa Al-Sabbagh followed a close run-off, getting 52 votes.
Muslim Brotherhood's representative Farouk Tayfur was elected as one of the three vice-presidents alongside Suheir Atassi and Salem Al-Wuslat.
Former President Moaz Alkhatib resigned earlier this year.
Jarba, who was born in 1970 in Qamishli province of Syria, was supported by the opposition's military wing, National Democratic Bloc, and the Revolutionary Movement.
