Syrian opposition re-elects Ghalioun as its leader

Syria’s opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Council, has re-elected its president Burhan Ghalioun to another three-month term.

Bassam Imadi, the council’s representative in Rome, said the vote was taken during a conference of council members here Tuesday.

Ghalioun has said the election showed that the council worked by consensus and is there to “serve the revolution.” He called for decisive action to enforce U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan, warning it risked failure.

World powers have backed the Annan plan, but the bloodshed has not stopped.

More than 200 U.N. observers have been deployed in Syria to oversee the truce between the government and armed rebels. The U.N. estimates the conflict has killed more than 9,000 people.

AP