Syria's opposition National Coalition on today named a moderate Islamist as its interim prime minister, in a key step towards forming a government.
Ahmad Toameh, elected during an opposition meeting in Istanbul, replaces Ghassan Hitto who resigned in July after just four months in the post without managing to form an opposition cabinet from among the fractious group.
Toameh, a 48-year-old dentist by training, now faces the arduous task of cobbling together a government to govern the regions in Syria under rebel control.
He received 75 votes, with 10 voting against him and 12 representatives filing blank ballots.
The National Coalition has been led since early July by Ahmad al-Jarba, a tribal chief and veteran dissident who fled abroad in August 2012 after being released from a second stint in the regime's jails.
