Syrian Opposition Rifts and Saudi Fears

Burhan Ghalioun, the head of Syria's Western-backed political opposition front, said May 17 that he would resign as soon as his replacement was found. The announcement comes just days after he was re-elected as president of the Syrian National Council (SNC) for another three-month term.

Ghalioun's decision was spurred by increasingly visible fissures within Syria's political opposition movement, which are explained in part by growing dissent against the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood's perceived monopolization of the SNC. Reservations about the Muslim Brotherhood's dominance over the SNC are limited not only to Syrian opposition factions. Saudi Arabia, a major financier for the Syrian rebels, is more likely to throw its support behind Salafists in trying to fortify the Syrian insurgency — a strategy that carries significant risks.