France\'s Hollande to meet head of Syrian opposition

French President Francois Hollande was to meet later Tuesday with the head of Syria\'s main opposition group, a day after hosting the new United Nations peace envoy to Syria, his office said. Hollande was due to meet representatives of the Syrian National Council and its leader Abdel Basset Sayda at his Elysee palace at 1500 GMT. The French president, who is accused by his critics of not taking a more prominent role in trying to resolve the Syrian conflict, on Monday met UN peace envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi. He repeated after that meeting that there can be no political solution for Syria unless President Bashar al-Assad steps down from power. Syria\'s popular uprising has spiralled into an armed conflict with some 23,000 deaths since March last year, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UN puts the death toll at 17,000.