Syria dissidents meet to forge new opposition alliance

Syrian opposition representatives met in Cairo Monday in a bid to forge a new, broader alliance against President Bashar Al-Assad's regime and agree on a roadmap for ending the conflict.

The new grouping would offer an alternative to the National Coalition, the exiled opposition bloc that is widely recognised and supported by Arab and Western governments, organisers said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry addressed the opening session of the two-day meeting, which was attended by some 150 delegates, an AFP correspondent reported.

The conference "is just a starting point, we will work together to get your message and your vision for a political solution through to Syria and also to the world," he said.

Organisers have promised that the new alliance will be totally different from the existing National Coalition and would be ready to hold talks with representatives of Assad's regime on the formation of a transitional government.

The Syrian conflict has killed more than 210,000 people, uprooted half the population and left the country in ruins since it erupted as a peaceful protest movement in March 2011.
Source: AFP