BEIRUT - About 200 Syrian opposition members have met outside the capital, Damascus, in a significant gathering of dissidents on Syrian soil.
The Syrian opposition consists of a variety of groups with often differing ideologies, including Islamists and secularists, and there have been many meetings of dissidents who say they represent the opposition. But Saturday's meeting was unusual in part because it was held inside Syria, rather than neighbouring countries.
A news conference was planned for Sunday.
The Syrian uprising began in mid-March, amid a wave of protests in the Arab world that toppled autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Syrian President Bashar Assad has reacted with deadly force that the UN estimates has left some 2,600 people dead.
