Hadi al-Bahra

The newly elected head of Syria's key opposition National Coalition on Monday ruled out taking part in a Russian-led bid for new talks to end the Syrian conflict.
     
Khaled Khoja, who was elected early on Monday to head the opposition grouping, said Moscow's proposal was impossible.
     

The main Western-backed Syrian opposition group has begun a three-day meeting in Istanbul to discuss a range of issues, including a Russian initiative to hold peace talks in Moscow to broker a resolution to Syria's civil war.

The Syrian National Coalition is also expected to elect a new president during the closed-door proceedings that opened on Jan. 2 in Istanbul.

The United Nations peace envoy to Syria is holding talks with the Syrian opposition in Turkey to promote a cease-fire proposal for the northern city of Aleppo, opposition sources said on Dec. 8.

Staffan de Mistura hopes the plan will establish truces in Aleppo, once Syria's commercial center and second-most-populous city, and allow aid into rebel districts.

The leader of the moderate Syrian opposition accused the US-led coalition in an interview Nov. 11 of having a "confused" strategy in Iraq and Syria that targeted jihadists but turned "a blind eye" to crimes by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
      

The Syrian National Coalition, the main exiled opposition group seeking the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, on July 9 elected Saudi-based Syrian opposition figure Hadi al-Bahra as its new president.