Syrian Opposition Groups Aim for Unity

Associated Press

Defectors from the Syrian Army took cover in a damaged house in Homs Province last month.

By KAREEM FAHIM

Published: January 1, 2012

BEIRUT, Lebanon — After a month of negotiations, the two largest Syrian opposition groups said Saturday that they had agreed on a common approach to organizing a transitional government, a move that could help unify a movement divided between exiles and domestic dissidents that has differed about how to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

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In their agreement, the two groups, the Syrian National Council and the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria, said they rejected any foreign military intervention in Syria, a statement that seemed to preclude a Libyan-style intervention in the country.
They left open, though, the possibility of an Arab military presence. One of the leaders of the National Coordination Body, Haytham Manna, said that might include Arab peacekeepers, for instance, in Homs, a city besieged by government troops. Armed opposition fighters are trying to wrest it from the government’s control.
The groups had also favored different approaches to toppling Mr. Assad, with some of the domestic dissidents represented by the National Coordination Body saying they were open to a negotiated end to the conflict. But many exiles, and some protesters, as well, have rejected that approach. Mr. Manna said the groups were still open to talking, but only with people “not implicated in crimes against humanity or corruption.”
Opposition figures also said that the agreement was intended to serve as a notice to Mr. Assad’s allies that the opposition was growing stronger. “The agreement aims to tighten the noose around the regime, and tell the Russians and the Chinese that we will be the regime,” said Khalaf Dahowd, a member of the Syrian National Coordination Body in Exile.
As the Syrian conflict continues to raise fears of sectarian strife, the agreement, which was signed on Friday in Cairo, emphasizes minority rights and freedom of religion and belief, but calls for separating religion from political and civic life.
The protest movement has surged in Syria, where hundreds of thousands of people, emboldened by the presence of Arab League observers, have demonstrated in recent days. Nine people were killed Saturday, according to the Local Coordination Committees, which reported that government snipers were firing on people from buildings in Homs.
On Saturday, the state news agency, SANA, announced that there would be funerals for 21 army and security officers.