Syrian opposition elects Bahra as new leader

The main exiled Syrian opposition group elected Wednesday Saudi Arabia-based businessman Hadi al-Bahra as its new president in a bid to end internal divisions and breathe fresh life into its flagging struggle to oust President Bashar Assad, AFP reports. 

The Syrian National Coalition, the main exiled opposition group seeking the overthrow of Assad, will be hoping Bahra enjoys greater success than his predecessor Ahmad Jarba in keeping up the pressure on the regime.

"Hadi al-Bahra was elected president of the coalition with 62 votes," the coalition said in a statement after the early morning vote at the meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sile outside Istanbul in Turkey.

His nearest rival, Mowafaq Nayrabiyeh, won 41 votes, while Walid al-Omari won just three votes, it added.

Delegates are expected to return later Wednesday to elect a vice president and a secretary general while Bahra is also expected to give a press conference.

Bahra will have the task of keeping alive the campaign to unseat Assad amid territorial gains by the regime and the rise of the radical jihadist group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), which the coalition vehemently opposes.