Syria Direct: News Update 8-13-2013

* Coalition head Ahmed Jarba tells Al-Jazeera: “Establishing a united National Defense Army will address the weapons mess inside Syria,” Meanwhile FSA sources tell online daily Zaman al-Wasl that defected Brigadier General Manaf Tlaas will not lead the reconfigured force.

* Opposition’s National Council for Education and Higher Education announces high school matriculation exams will be held over the next two weeks at 113 centers in liberated parts of Syria and at additional sites in Jordan and Turkey.

* Kolona Shorkaa: Muslim Brotherhood announces the opening of its first official office inside Syria since the group was outlawed in the 1980s.

* Moaz al-Khatib: Coalition hampered by “powers inside it that do not allow it to do any political work, causing it to fail.”

* Al-Mayadin News: Clashes renewed between Kurdish fighters and ISIS backed by Jabhat a-Nusra in rural Aleppo.

* SANA News: Syrian national football team flies to Tehran to play against Jordan in Asian Cup semifinals Thursday night.