Activist: Syrian Opposition Leader 'Very Moderate'

The new head of Syria's opposition is a "very moderate" figure who inspires confidence, a leading activist was once imprisoned by the regime for waging an Internet campaign said on Wednesday.

"I am very optimistic because I have a lot of faith in Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib," Hanadi Zahlout, who was in Italy as part of a campaign organized by Amnesty International, said in an interview with Vatican radio.

"He is a man of religion but on a personal level, socially and publicly, he is very moderate, a lay person and a man of honor," she said.

Zahlout said that the new National Coalition opposition body forged under international pressure in Doha over the weekend was a positive step.

"It is a lot better than being divided," she said.

The activist was arrested in Damascus in August 2011 after circulating opposition videos on Facebook and saw a fellow activist being tortured. She was released in December after an international campaign in her favor.

"We have to ensure the regime falls as quickly as possible to avoid an Islamicization since the longer the regime lasts the more the fundamentalist elements inside the Free Syrian Army will gain strength," she said.

Khatib, 52, is a former imam at the Umayyad Mosque in the heart of Damascus.