STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A prominent Syrian opposition figure on Saturday said co-ordination of the country's fragmented opposition is "very important, even urgent" if the pro-democracy revolution in the Arab state is to advance further.
Bourhan Ghalioun, the unofficial chairman of the newly formed Syrian National Council, said he expects the organization will be recognized "in the coming few weeks."
The creation of the broad-based council was announced last week in Turkey. Washington has welcomed the formation of the council but stopped short of recognizing it; neither have any country or international body.
"The SNC has just been established, we haven't even finished constructing its institutions yet, but we're hoping that it will be recognized in the coming few weeks," Ghalioun told the Associated Press.
Ghalioun spoke on the sidelines of a two-day conference in Stockholm, where about one hundred opponents meeting Saturday in Stockholm to discuss ways to overthrow President Bashar Assad's regime, following months of unrest and bloody crackdowns on protesters that has left thousands dead.
The United Nations estimates that more than 2,900 people have been killed since the uprisings in Syria began in March.
Aside from the SNC, the conference also hosted other opposition parties and activists as well as representatives of various religious and ethnic groups, including the conservative Muslim Brotherhood movement and various Kurdish and Assyrian parties.
The results from the meetings in Stockholm are expected to be presented at a news conference on Monday.
