Syrian Opposition Talks Tactics in Qatar

The opposition Syrian National Council gathered in Qatar on Thursday to prepare for meetings with regional blocs on their government's lethal crackdown on protests, an SNC spokesman told Agence France Presse.

The SNC executive committee talks come "before two important meetings, one for the Gulf Cooperation Council and another for the Arab League," both of which are to take place on Sunday in Cairo, Mohammed Sarmini said.

The talks, which officially start on Friday, are to focus on "the situation on the ground in Syria" and ways to help rebel fighters, he told AFP.

Ahmed Ramdan, another SNC member, said the council will discuss means to increase support for "the defense capabilities of the youths in revolt and the Free Syrian Army," made up of army deserters.

The 22-member League suspended a month-old monitoring mission to Syria on January 28 because of the escalating violence.

The six Gulf Cooperation Council nations have decided to recall their envoys from Damascus and expel Syrian ambassadors from their countries.

On Wednesday, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon launched the idea of sending to Syria a joint observer mission with the Arab League.

The pan-Arab bloc's secretary general, Nabil al-Arabi, said he had spoken to Ban about the proposed mission, which would include a U.N. envoy.

Activists say more than 6,000 Syrians have been killed in a bloody crackdown on demonstrators by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in the 11-month-old uprising.

The opposition leaders meeting in Doha, which has been at the forefront of efforts to sanction the Syrian regime's lethal crackdown, is also to discuss a French proposal to form a "friends of Syria" group.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has proposed creating the group after Moscow and China last weekend vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the crackdown on anti-regime protests.

Ramdan, meanwhile, said the opposition will "begin documenting the (Syrian) regime's crimes, in cooperation with international human rights groups, and will present these (documents) to the International Criminal Court."

The SNC is a coalition of Syria's major opposition parties, grouping Islamists -- including the Muslim Brotherhood -- liberals and nationalists.