Beirut - A group of Syrian opposition figures is seeking to form an alternative to the National Coalition body and open negotiations with President Bashar al-Assad to end their country's conflict.
The "National Syrian Democratic Conference" is expected to take place in Cairo in early May and bring together some 150 opposition figures living in Syria and abroad, organisers say.
They want to adopt a "Syrian National Charter" and a roadmap to a resolution of the conflict, which is now in its fifth year, said organiser and veteran dissident Haytham Manna.
And unlike the National Coalition, they appear flexible on Assad's role and the nature of any transition to end the war.
"The (National) Coalition has never been able to represent the whole of the Syrian opposition because it declared itself as representing all of the opposition and Syrian society even though it excludes key constituents," Manna told AFP.
"Our objective, by contrast, is to set up a delegation that is balanced, representative, democratically chosen and does not exclude anyone to face a government delegation in negotiations," he said.
More than 215,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict, which began with anti-government protests in March 2011 but spiralled into a war after a regime crackdown.
It has become a complex, multi-front war, with jihadists like the Islamic State group seizing large swathes of territory and becoming important players.
AFP
