The Syrian National Council, which is trying to unite opponents to the regime of President Bashar Assad, was holding negotiations behind closed doors in Istanbul on Saturday.

Several opposition movements are trying to reach an alliance, a member of the SNC Halit Hoca told Agence France Presse.

Representatives of Syria's six-month-old protest movement joined opposition parties in Turkey on Saturday to forge a united front against Bashar Assad's regime after violence claimed at least 19 more lives.

Clashes between security forces and deserters killed 11 people in a village in Hama province on Friday, while another eight died during a crackdown on protests in flashpoint Homs, human rights activists said.

Voters turned out in low numbers for a second round of by-elections in Bahrain on Saturday boycotted by the Gulf state's Shiite opposition, witnesses said.

The elections were held to replace 18 MPs of the main Shiite opposition formation Al-Wefaq, who resigned in February shortly after Shiite-led protests sparked a deadly response from authorities in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

The United States said Friday it summoned the Syrian ambassador to Washington to read him "the riot act" after President Bashar al-Assad's supporters tried to attack the U.S. envoy in Damascus.

European nations on Friday dropped the word "sanctions" from a proposed U.N. Council resolution on Syria as they played a diplomatic word game to temper Russian opposition.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to demand a quick return to peace talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, her spokesman said Friday.

Twenty-seven people have been killed on Friday at the hands of Syrian security forces during anti-regime demonstrations that took place in various Syrian cities, according to activists.

The Syrian Revolution General Commission said that 27 people were killed and tens were wounded in the crackdown against protestors.

Protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square declared a sit-in on Friday following a rally to reclaim the revolution amid anger over the military rulers' handling of the transition.

An international commission of inquiry into rights violations in Syria said on Friday it hoped to be allowed to visit the country, although it had not yet been in contact with Syrian authorities.

"Our hope is that the Syrian Arab Republic will cooperate and give us access to different authorities, and visit different locations," Sergio Pinheiro, the head of the international commission of inquiry on Syria told reporters.

A senior U.S. official confirmed Friday that U.S.-born al-Qaida cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi was dead, after the Yemeni defense ministry said he had been killed with several other suspected militants.

"I can confirm... he's dead," the senior administration official said when asked about the incident, without providing further details.