Syrian opposition activist Haitham al-Maleh said he had been commissioned by a coalition of Syrian groups to form a government in exile to be based in Cairo. "I was appointed to head a transitional government (...) and to begin consultations" with the opposition in Syria and abroad, said al-Maleh during a conference Press in Cairo.
Mr. al-Maleh said the decision to form a government was taken in fear of a "vacuum" in case of the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad. "We do not want to find ourselves in a situation of political and administrative vacuum," he said. Mr. al-Maleh, 81, is a lawyer and human rights activist. He spent several years in prison.
Meanwhile, the Syrian army intensified its operations Tuesday in Aleppo, using helicopter gunships and artillery to dislodge the rebels from two areas inside the city, while the opposition claims to have forced the military to withdraw.