AMMAN (REUTERS) - The opposition Syrian National Coalition on Saturday elected moderate Islamist Ahmad Tumeh as provisional prime minister, coalition members told Reuters.

The coalition hopes that 48-year-old Tumeh will boost the opposition's credibility as Russia and the United States negotiated a deal over Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons arsenal that could lead to efforts towards a wider settlement of the two-and-a-half year conflict.

Tumeh, a former political prisoner from the eastern province of Deir al-Zor, got 75 votes out of 97 cast in a coalition ballot in Istanbul, the sources said.