The opposition Syrian National Council said on Sunday that it had elected Kurdish activist Abdel Basset Sayda as its new leader at a meeting in Istanbul. "Abdel Basset Sayda has been elected president of the Syrian National Council as successor to Dr. Burhan Ghalioun," a brief statement said. He takes over from Paris-based academic Ghalioun, the exiled bloc's first leader who stepped down last month in the face of mounting splits that were undermining the group's credibility. Activists accused Ghalioun of ignoring the Local Coordination Committees, which spearhead anti-government protests on the ground in Syria, and of giving the Muslim Brotherhood too big a role. [Link]