Syrian opposition wary of US push on leaders

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As fighting rages in Syria with heavy air raids, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S.  would push for a major revamp in Syria's opposition leadership. NBC's Keith Miller reports.By NBC News staff and wire servicesMembers of Syria's opposition-in-exile bristled Thursday at the Obama administration's suggestion that Washington will handpick more representative leaders at a crucial conference in Qatar next week.

Follow @NBCNewsWorld The new U.S. push appears aimed at creating a unified leadership that could work more closely with the West. But there are signs of resistance among deeply fractured opposition groups wary of attempts by foreign backers to dictate strategy in the civil war against President Bashar Assad.

"This direct tutelage and these dictates are not acceptable to the Syrian people anymore," Zuhair Salem, the London-based spokesman for Syria's banned Muslim Brotherhood opposition group, told The Associated Press. The Brotherhood is part of the main political opposition group, the Syrian National Council, which is dominated by exiles.




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