The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), has elected George Sabra, a leading Christian opposition figure, for a six-month term at its leader following discussions in Doha, Qatar.

Sabra was one of two candidates that the SNC's executive council chose from in a ballot counted in front of reporters and council members. In his first statement as SNC chief, Sabra on Friday vowed to "work with other components of the Syrian opposition to accelerate the fall of [President Bashar al-Assad's] criminal regime."

The SNC has been vying to keep its leading role in the conflict and has come under US pressure to unify with other groups opposed to Assad.

Farouq Tayfour, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was elected his vice president.

Earlier on Friday, the umbrella group elected 11 members to sit on its executive committee, having already elected a 41-member secretariat.

Sabra, born in Qatana in the Damascus Suburbs governorate, is a leftist opposition figure and a leading member of the Syrian Democratic People’s Party. He was arrested several times under the regime of Assad.

"We hope that these free and transparent elections will be a model for free elections in Syria," Sabra told the AFP news agency, stressing that the new executive represents all sectors of society, including for the first time the tribes.

SNC representatives voiced reservations about the initiative, based on a proposal tabled by prominent dissident Riad Seif with apparent US support.

Seif's initiative

The plan put forward at a meeting on Thursday, called by host Qatar and the Arab League, appeared to be a modified version of Seif's initiative, proposing an umbrella body of some 60 members, representing the SNC, civilian groups active on the ground, armed groups, Muslim scholars and others.

This body would in turn form a transitional government of some 10 members, and a military council.

The SNC, formed six months after the anti-regime uprising began in March 2011, has proposed "holding a national congress of 300 members in liberated territories" in order to add "revolutionary legitimacy" to any executive, according to SNC member Najati Tayara.

Such a congress would form a transitional government that would run territories seized by the opposition forces, channel humanitarian aid and direct military operations, he said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week called the SNC unrepresentative of opposition forces on the ground and said it "can no longer be viewed as the visible leader of the opposition."

The SNC, which fears marginalization in a new structure, in return accused Washington of undermining the revolt and "sowing the seeds of division."

Burhan Ghalioun, a former SNC chief, said any accord "could boost the uprising" as it would enable the opposition to unite the different military groups battling regime forces.

Ahmed Ben Helli, deputy head of the Arab League, said delegates had been urged to overcome the divisions that have dogged their efforts to unseat Assad.

Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, on opening the meeting, had urged them to "unify their ranks and positions and to prioritize the interests of their nation and people over their own personal interests."

PHOTO CAPTION

Syrian National Council member George Sabra attends a meeting to announce the results of the 11-member executive committee in Doha November 9, 2012.

Al-Jazeera