Rebels New PM Rules Out Talks with Syrian Govt

Assad on 'Wrong Side of History' Hitto Insists

Freshly elected Texas IT manager turned Syrian rebel “prime minister in exile” Ghassan Hitto has ruled out negotiations with the Syrian government, insisting it is “oppressive and unjust” and that no one in the world could ever force him to talk to them.

Hitto went on to say that the Assad government is “on the wrong side of history,” and that its backers are as well, insisting that he will instead work to “reinforce the greatness of the revolution.”

Hitto left Dallas, his home for the past few decades, to move to Istanbul where he will serve as PM-in-exile of the Syrian CORF faction. His victory reportedly came after an endorsement from the Muslim Brotherhood.

Syrian rebels have regularly ruled out talks, and the one time a high ranking official within the rebellion suggested he was open in theory to talks the outrage from other rebel officials forced him to scrap the plan entirely.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.