Syrian opposition PM rejects dialogue with Assad regime

ISTANBUL

The Syrian National Council held a meeting closed to the press in Istanbul March.18. DHA photo.

Syria's opposition will not enter into dialogue with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, the country's newly elected rebel prime minister said Tuesday in his inaugural speech.
 
"We confirm to the great Syrian people that there will be no dialogue with the Assad regime," Ghassan Hitto said.

Syria opposition elects prime minister

Syrian opposition group the Syrian National Coalition has chosen an interim prime minister yesterday, after an hours-long meeting in Istanbul.

Ghassan Hitto has been elected as the interim prime minister of the Syrian National Coalition, officials told the Hürriyet Daily News in a phone interview.

Hitto, who has lived in the U.S. city of Dallas for decades where he has worked as an IT executive, was chosen as prime minister from 12 candidates.

The group agrees that the prime minister and his government must be based inside Syria, spokesman Khalid Saleh told reporters, according to Agence France-Presse.