Syrian rebels launch major assault on northern airbase The assault at Taftanaz comes a day before the start of a key international conference in Qatar at which the United States and its allies aim to reorganize the opposition's political leadership and unite their ranks. Washington believes that the main representative body of the opposition in exile, the Syrian National Council, is ineffective and lacks credibility with rebel fighters on the ground. Instead, Riad Seif, a long-time dissident and liberal politician, has been touted as the potential head of a new government-in-exile dubbed the Syrian National Initiative. In response, the SNC has accused Washington of undermining the country's revolt and "sowing the seeds of division" by seeking the overhaul. However, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said this week that the SNC "could no longer be viewed as the visible leader of the opposition." Mr Seif, 66, who has been suffering from cancer for years, left Syria only a few months ago after being thrown in jail earlier in the country's uprising. He is understood to command respect among Syrian rebels for having spoken out against the regime, although many observers doubt whether he will be able to deliver on promises to create a more broad-based opposition, reaching out to President Assad's minority Alawite sect and Kurdish political leaders.