Syria opposition National Council to rejoin Coalition

The opposition Syrian National Council said Friday it will rejoin the umbrella coalition from which it withdrew in protest at the Geneva peace talks with the regime. The SNC, the biggest bloc in Syria's opposition-in-exile, quit the National Coalition on January 20 because of its participation in the talks. But on Friday, the group said it had decided "on the return of the SNC bloc and all its components to the ranks of the ... Coalition," at a two-day meeting of its general assembly in Istanbul. The Council said the decision came after the talks in Switzerland "failed to achieve the goals of the Syrian people". A second round of talks in Geneva between regime representatives and the opposition, dubbed Geneva II, ended on February 15 without results and with no date set for more negotiations. The SNC said it supported the "unity of the Syrian opposition," and called for a "closing of its ranks to achieve the goals of the Syrian revolution". Syria's war has since March 2011 killed more than 140,000 people and forced millions more to flee. Source: AFP