Mouaz al-Khatib, the preacher who leads the Syrian National Coalition that opposes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has resigned in protest over the failure of the international community to support forces opposing Assad. The coalition is a fragile one; there are hundreds of rebel brigades that share nothing but their desire to topple Assad. Even though the coalition elected a new prime minister last week, the coalition still does not command allegiance from all the rebel forces. Some rebel fighters feel that the Muslim Brotherhood is too powerful within the coalition.
Al-Khatib stated:
I am keeping my promise today and announcing my resignation from the National Coalition so that I can work with freedom that is not available inside the official institutions. All that has happened to the Syrian people — from destruction of infrastructure to the arrest of tens of thousands to the displacement of hundreds of thousands to other tragedies — is not enough for an international decision to allow the Syrian people to defend themselves.
The coalition was founded in November as the international community looked for a way to establish dialogue between rebel forces and Assad, but members of the coalition have no desire to enter into any dialogue with Assad.
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