SNC fails to choose premier over KSA-Qatar rivalry

The members of the opposition group gathered in the Turkish city of Istanbul over the weekend to choose a new premier among a group of 13 hopefuls.

According to reports, the major difference during the gathering was between two forerunners of the SNC--Walid al-Zohbi who is believed to be close to Riyadh and Ahmad Tohme who is reportedly backed by Doha.

Tohme headed the SNC for 10 months before being stripped of duties at a general assembly of the opposition group.

"Qatar made clear that its financial support to the coalition would end if Tohme was not re-elected," a member of the opposition group, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

According to sources affiliated with the opposition group, the members of the SNC will stay three more days in Istanbul to discuss the issue and find a way out of the impasse.

Against the backdrop of the opposition group’s impasse, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamid Al Thani met with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud in the Saudi capital on Monday.

Qatari and Saudi news agencies described the Qatari emir’s visit a “brotherly” meeting.

“They discussed aspects of cooperation between the two countries, in addition to the latest developments in the Arab, Islamic and international arenas,” the Saudi Press Agency said.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011.

The Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey -- are reportedly supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

More than 191,000 people have been killed in over three years of fighting in the war-ravaged country, says the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), calling the figure a probable “underestimate of the real total number of people killed.

HK