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the only candidate to replace liberal opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun for the three-month presidency. He was elected unanimously during an SNC meeting Saturday night in Istanbul that stretched into early hours Sunday.
• The Paris-based Ghalioun, who had presided over the council since it was created last August, recently offered to step down over mounting criticism of his leadership and repeated renewals of his three-month term. Several prominent Syrian dissidents have quit the group calling it an "autocratic" organiza

tion no better than the authoritarian rule of President Bashar Assad.
• They also complained the group was dominated by Islamists, including the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood.
• The Syrian opposition has been hobbled by disorganization and infighting since the popular revolt against Assad began 15 months ago. Its international backers have repeatedly appealed for the movement to pull together and work as one unit. The SNC itself has been plagued by infighting, hampering efforts by Western and Arab nations to help the opposition.
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• ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Firefighters in Colorado and New Mexico are battling wind-fueled wildfires that are moving fast through parched forests, forcing

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