REPORT: George Sabra assigned as head of the Syrian National Coalition

        
George Sabra was assigned on Monday as head of the Syrian National Coalition, following the resignation of Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib.          

Sabra is a veteran communist opponent of the Syrian regime and a well-known Christian member of the opposition.         

The announcement came a day after the Syrian leader Khatib submitted his resignation for a second time, in protest of the failure of the international community to stop the long-simmering Syrian crisis, which has claimed the lives of at least 70,000 people.           

On another note, European Union governments agreed earlier on Monday to ease sanctions on Syria to allow for purchases of crude from the opposition, in hopes of throwing a financial lifeline to rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.        

The decision, taken at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, will allow European importers to buy oil from Syria, if authorized by an opposition umbrella grouping. 
      
This move, which is considered as the latest signal of support from the EU to the opposition, is a boost to rebels who are fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.        

On the other hand, Iran expressed on Monday its support to its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad until the end of his mandate adding “the upcoming presidential elections will determine Assad’s fate”.        

The head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran's Parliament Alaeddin Boroujerdi said in a press conference following a meeting with President Assad that Syria’s best choice is to keep President Assad until the end of his mandate in 2014 adding that “the Syrian people will make their choice in the upcoming free elections”.   

This as two Syrian activist groups say they fear the past six days of clashes in two Damascus suburbs may have killed hundreds of people.        

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the number of dead could be as high as 250.         

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, says the group has documented 80 names of those killed in Jdaidet Artouz and Jdaidet al-Fadel suburbs.

The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, says the death toll is 483. It says most of the people were killed in Jdaidet Artouz.

State-run news agency SANA said Syrian troops "inflicted heavy losses" on the rebels in the suburbs.

Monday's reports came as President Bashar Assad's forces continued a major offensive in the suburbs against opposition fighters who were closing in on parts of Damascus.


REUTERS/AP/LBCI/


To watch the full report, please click on the video above