ISTANBUL
Leading opposition group Syrian National Coalition has elected ministers for an interim government that they hope would eventually replace the regime of Bashar Assad.
The Istanbul-based Coalition issued a statement on Sunday announcing the appointment of Muhyi Al-Din Banana as Minister of Education and Adnan Mohamad Hazuri as Minister of Health.
The announcement comes in the second day of the Coalition’s 3-day General Assembly meeting in Istanbul.
It is reported that there are no candidates for the post of interior minister.
The interim government was set up in March last year under the leadership of Ghassan Hitto, who was replaced in September upon resignation by Ahmad Tuma. The first group of ministers took their posts in November.
The interim government remains largely devoid of influence after an abortive international initiative early this year to pave the way for a transition of power in Syria.
The fragmented Syrian opposition accuses Assad’s government of perpetrating violence against its own people during a three-year conflict that has led to the deaths of nearly 140,000 people and forced 2.5 million out of Syria.
Opposition groups say the Assad regime has lost its legitimacy to rule, prompting them to search for an alternative.
International efforts in January and February - known as Geneva-2 talks - to reconcile differences between the two sides fell by the wayside after they failed to agree on the terms of a power transition in the war-torn country.
Brief information on the two ministers:
Muhyi Al-Din Banana was born in the town of Qurqania in Idlib on June 14, 1948. He received his PhD from Moscow University in 1975 in geotechnical engineering. He has over 25 years of experience in teaching and management at the university level.
Adnan Mohamad Hazouri was born on March 15, 1970 in the district of Baba Amr in Homs. He received a master’s degree in general surgery in 1998 and another in pediatric surgery in 2001 from Damascus University.
He was the president of the pediatric surgery department in a children’s hospital in Homs from 2008 to 2011. Hazouri too was a lecturer, featuring in conferences about general surgery and pediatric surgery.
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