Syrian dissidents set up ‘national council’
Opposition sets up council dedicated to overthrowing Assad, bringing him to justice
Syrian opposition activists have created a "National Council" to lead the battle to oust Assad's regime, their spokesman Jamil Saib announced on Sunday.
"We announce the creation of a National Council to lead the Syrian revolution, comprising all communities and representatives of national political forces inside and outside Syria," reporters near the Turkish-Syrian border were told.
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The group urged all parties and elements opposing Syrian President Bashar Assad "to band together in order to achieve the just goal of overthrowing the regime and bringing (Assad) to justice.
The activists said that the council was created "in the name of Syria's free revolutionary youth in view of the crimes the regime perpetrated against the oppressed civilian population, which was holding peaceful protests...and the Arab world and international community's silence."
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights website said that the violence had claimed the lives of 1,310 civilians and 341 security force members.
Meanwhile, Syria's embattled president is set to make a major speech on Monday: "President Bashar Assad will deliver a speech at noon tomorrow concerning developments in Syria," Damascus' official news agency, SANA, said.
It will be the third time Assad has made a major speech since protests demanding greater freedoms and democracy erupted in Syria in mid-March.
Western UN Security Council members are struggling to push through a resolution to condemn Syria's attacks on civilian protesters. The US, Britain and France are pushing for the measure, but Russia and China are resisting.
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