Syrian Opposition Calls on Assad to Quit Immediately

Syrian opposition groups called Thursday for President Bashar al-Assad's immediate resignation, in a joint declaration at the end of a two-day meeting in Turkey.

The statement, read out in Arabic in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya, urged the "immediate resignation of President Bashar al-Assad from all functions he occupies" and asked him to "leave his powers to a vice-president," without specifying whom it was referring to.

It urged the holding of "parliamentary and presidential elections within a period that will not exceed one year" following Assad's resignation.

The dissidents vowed "to do whatever it is up to them to bring down the regime" in Syria, welcoming the declaration with applause.

In a message to the international community, which has been piling up pressure on Damascus for political reform, the declaration voiced opposition to "any foreign intervention" in Syria such as in Libya.

"Everything must be done to preserve Syria's unity and territorial integrity," it said.

The statement called for the creation of an interim council charged with drafting a more liberal and democratic constitution.

"Syria will establish the rule of law, respecting human rights and depending on separation of powers," it said.

Some 300 Syrian activists, mostly exiles, representing a broad spectrum of political forces opposed to Assad's regime, attended the talks, the largest gathering of the opposition so far.

The participants, among them members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, have snubbed a general amnesty for political prisoners, decreed by Assad Tuesday, as a belated and inadequate move.

"It is Bashar al-Assad who will need pardon because he killed his own people," said Moulhem Droubi, spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was present in the conference.

Organizers of the gathering -- entitled "Conference for Change in Syria" -- have said the aim was to draw up a "roadmap" for a peaceful and democratic transition in their country.

They have set up several committees to coordinate anti-regime action, notably to explore ways of supporting protesters in Syria, both in financial and logistic terms, in areas such as legal assistance and strengthening Internet media backing the revolt.

"People are putting their lives at risk to secure Syria's future. Our duty is to support them politically and logistically," Droubi said.

"We try to provide logistical support for activists to equip them with cameras, aiming to document and show the crimes committed by the regime to the international community and obtain justice," Droubi added.

About 50 regime supporters demonstrated near the conference venue Thursday, brandishing posters of the Syrian president and chanting in English "We love Bashar."

"These are people on the payroll of the United States and Israel, they have no right to represent the Syrian people," one of the demonstrators, Nidal Saeed, said of the opposition activists.

Turkish riot police, deployed in numbers in the area, kept the demonstrators away from the hotel where the conference was held.

More than 1,100 civilians have been killed and at least 10,000 arrested in a brutal crackdown on almost daily anti-regime demonstrations in Syria since March 15, rights organizations say.