Syria's main opposition council has elected American citizen Ghassan Hitto to be prime minister of a new interim government responsible for overseeing refugees and rebel-held areas. Hitto, 50, was born in Damascus but has lived in the US for decades. He abruptly quit his job at a Texas electronics firm last fall to move to Turkey to help coordinate the funneling of aid to rebel-held areas, Al Jazeera reports. Hitto emerged as winner with 35 out of 48 votes after a full day of closed-door meetings among coalition members.
Hitto, who opposes talks with Bashar al-Assad, says an interim government is necessary to unite rebel forces and keep Syria from becoming even more chaotic, the New York Times reports. "There is always a possibility that this regime might fall suddenly," he says. "And we can’t avoid a political vacuum in the country and the ensuing chaos unless there is a transitional government." Hitto says he decided to get more involved with the Syrian opposition after his 25-year-old American-born son sneaked off to join rebel fighters last year. (More Syria stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
