Syrian major opposition bloc, the Syrian National Council (SNC), elected George Sabra as its new head during a meeting here on Friday.

Sabra, a Christian born in 1947 in Syria's Damascus, was elected out of two candidates to succeed Abdel Baset Seda as the chairman of SNC executive board.

He was arrested in July 2011 for "undermining the morale of the state and inciting people to demonstrate against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad," but was released two months later and joined the SNC general secretariat.

The SNC and some other exiled opposition groups have been meeting in the Qatari capital for almost a week to discuss forming a wider opposition body.

The groups are expected to announce their final decision within hours on a proposal for forming a united opposition front to help end the 20-month Syrian crisis and establish a transitional government headed by prominent dissident Riad Seif.

The SNC has showed reluctance towards the U.S.-backed proposal, for concerns that its influence will be reduced. Endi