New Syria opposition head rules out Moscow talks plan

The newly elected head of Syria's key opposition National Coalition on Monday ruled out taking part in a Russian-led bid for new talks to end the Syrian conflict.
     
Khaled Khoja, who was elected early on Monday to head the opposition grouping, said Moscow's proposal was impossible.
     
"The dialogue with the regime that Moscow is calling for is out of the question," he said at a news conference in Istanbul, where the Coalition is based.
      
"We can't sit at the same table as the regime... except in a negotiating framework intended to achieve a peaceful transition of power and the formation of a transitional body with full powers," he said.
      
Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been trying to relaunch peace talks that would include meetings between delegates of the regime and the fractured opposition.
      
It has invited 28 opposition figures, including members of the tolerated domestic opposition as well as individual Coalition members, to Moscow later this month.
      
Among them are Hadi al-Bahra, whom Khoja succeeded on Monday, and two other previous Coalition chiefs, Moaz al-Khatib and Abdel Basset Sida.
      
It remains unclear whether the Coalition will seek to ban those of its members who have been invited from attending the talks in Moscow.
                      
Khatib visited Russia last year for discussions and has recently established his own movement, though he remains a member of the Coalition.
      
Several opposition groups are expected to meet in Cairo this month to form a unified front, according to opposition sources, although a timetable and list of participants has not been made public.
     
Khoja's comments were...