The High Negotiations Committee is the only group selected to represent the Syrian opposition, leaving many other anti-government groups in Syria completely unrepresented in the committee. Despite the inclusion of seven total ethnic Kurds in the committee, the mostly neutral Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, as well as its majority-Kurdish military wing - the Syrian Democratic Forces, is also left completely unrepresented.[1][2] Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Al-Qaeda-linked group designated by the UN as a terrorist organization, as well as Syria's largest rebel group, was excluded from the negotiations for the formation of the committee from its inception.[22]