Syria Opposition Demands Foreign Observers, not Intervention

Syrian opposition leaders meeting in Sweden called for international observers in their country but largely opposed foreign military intervention, organizers said Monday.

The opposition group leaders who met at the weekend agreed on "the international community's role, demanding to have observers on site, and that minority groups should be given legally binding protection" once a new regime is in place, Jens Orback, the secretary general of the Olof Palme Centre, told reporters.

As for what happens with the current regime of Bashar al-Assad, the verdict is clear, he said, pointing out that all opposition leaders agreed "it must be toppled".

Also during the conference, "there was nearly a consensus against military intervention and in favor of political and diplomatic intervention", participant Ghied Al Hashmy, who lives in Berlin, told reporters in the Swedish capital through a translator.

"The participants were very welcoming of the idea of having international observers who could move about freely in the country and observe the situation," she added.

"The Syria of the future will be built on a basis of pluralism, of democracy," another participant, Faiez Sara, said.

Some 90 representatives of the Syrian opposition, including members of the Syrian National Council (SNC), participated in the weekend conference organized by the Olof Palme Centre.

The recently formed SNC includes most of Assad's opponents, including committees organizing protests on the ground, the Muslim Brotherhood as well as various Kurdish and Assyrian parties.

The council has been touring capital cities to rally support from the Arab and Western world.

According to the United Nations, the Assad regime's relentless crackdown on dissent has claimed more than 2,900 lives since March.