SNC personalities jockey for position

The Saudi orientation of the current Syrian National Coalition (SNC) leadership does not make it a puppet of Riyadh. There are different currents within the opposition, even if president Ahmad Jarba’s Saudi-aligned bloc is the dominant force. The Muslim Brotherhood, though weakened since January, remains influential, as do secular leftists such as George Sabra and Burhan Ghalioun, both former leaders of the Syrian National Council, and the veteran Syrian dissident Michel Kilo. Kilo – like Sabra, a Christian – played a critical role in facilitating the Saudi ‘takeover’ of the SNC, in opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood current.