Washington, Ramadan 12, 1435, Jul 9, 2014, SPA -- The United States welcomed the election Wednesday of Syrian opposition coalition president Hadi al Bahra, with the State Department saying it looks forward to working with him and continuing to build its partnership with the coalition. "We applaud coalition president-elect al Bahra's longstanding efforts in support of the Syrian people and his distinguished service to the coalition. We look to president-elect Bahra and other new leaders to reach out to all Syrian communities and to strengthen unity among moderate opposition institutions," the department said in a statement. Al Bahra succeeds Ahmad al Jarba, who held the top opposition position since last July. --SPA 00:35 LOCAL TIME 21:35 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w