"opposition leader"

This is the caption of the Times: "A United Nations monitor, Col. Ahmed Himmiche, walked hand-in-hand with Abdul Razzaq Tlas, an opposition leader, in Homs on Saturday, in a photo from Shaam News Network."  This may be the first time that the Times labels a leader of an armed group "an opposition leader".  Do you think that Times would refer to Iraqi insurgent leaders as "opposition leaders"?  Oh, and was Abu Mus`ab Az-Zarqawi an "opposition leader" too?