Members of the Syrian National Coalition voted on Saturday to elect a new leader, but the top two candidates failed to gain a simple majority required to become the head of the coalition fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
A runoff ballot was scheduled for later on Saturday, according to Reuters.
Ahmad Jarba, a tribal figure linked with Saudi Arabia, and Mustafa al-Sabbagh, a businessman who is Qatar's point man, did not gain more than half of the votes in the 115 member SNC in an early morning ballot in Istanbul.
The coalition, which can be split into the Muslim Brotherhood, the Sabbagh faction and a Saudi-backed bloc that includes Jarba, held the vote after failing to agree on a compromise candidate.
The coalition’s former leader had quit over disagreement over potential talks with Assad’s government.
(With Reuters)
