In a further sign of the chronic divisions within the Syrian opposition, the umbrella Syrian National Council (SNC) announced on 23 May that it had accepted the resignation of SNC President Burhan Ghalioun, barely a week after reelecting him for a further three months on 15 May. A statement from the council's 12-member executive bureau, the organization's top decision making body, said that Mr Ghalioun – who offered to resign on 17 May – would remain at the head of the SNC until a new president is elected at a meeting of the 50-member general secretariat in Istanbul on 11-12 June.