The group which includes the exiled former Syrian vice president Abdel Halim Kaddam and the banned Muslim Brotherhood, has called the meeting for June 4 and 5, it said in a statement.

About 50 opponents of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, including Kurdish parties, independents and communists, are expected to turn up for the talks, which will not however be attended by opposition figures living in Syria, an aide to Khaddam said.

The London meeting will come shortly before the head of a UN commission of inquiry submits his report into the February 2005 killing of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, which has been widely blamed on Syria.

Khaddam, who resigned last June and moved to exile in Paris where he is now leading the opposition activities, has charged that Assad himself ordered the killing of Hariri in a massive Beirut bomb blast.

In turn, Syria has accused him of high treason and corruption.

He has held a number of meetings in Paris and Brussels with the London-based head of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, Ali Sadredin al-Bayanuni, on their push for "peaceful regime change".

Human Rights activists suffering health problems

In another development, the Syrian Network for Human Rights said political and human rights activists rounded up two weeks ago were suffering health problems.

A statement by the group released Monday said "we express our deep concern over information that we received about the deterioration of health conditions of certain political prisoners."

It said among the ill activists, lawyer Anwar Bunni who runs the risk of a total health collapse due to a hunger strike he has been observing to protest his unjust detention, activist Aref Dalilah who suffers from heath problems and activists Mahmoud Sarem and Mohammed Ghanem who are stricken by sadness and depression.

Sarem was detained four months ago for his human rights and political activities, while Ghanem has been held for two months for the same reasons.

The Syrian authorities also rounded up 13 political and rights activists and released three in the past two weeks for signing a document dubbed the Beirut-Damascus / Damascus Beirut Declaration which called for rectifying Lebanese-Syrian relations. The document was signed by 500 Lebanese and Syrian intellectuals.

Dalilah was arrested at the end of 2001 when the Syrian authorities sought to muzzle activists who enjoyed relative freedom of expression during the so-called Damascus Spring that followed President Bashar Assad's accession to power succeeding his late father, Hafez Assad.

Dalilah, a university professor and economist, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and excluded from a presidential amnesty under which most the detainees of the Damascus Spring have been freed.

The latest bunch of detained activists were held at the civilian Adra prison with homicide convicts and referred to trial by a civilian court.

The network's statement called on the authorities to "intervene quickly and free the activists to enable them to receive proper health care."

The Bunni family

Akram Bunni, brother of Anwar Bunni said when it comes to prison, the Bunni family has had more than its share. Akram, two other brothers but not Anwar, his sister and brother-in-law have all served lengthy jail terms starting in the 1990s, for membership of a banned communist organization.

"At one point only my mother and Anwar were free," says Akram Bunni. "They kept up a busy schedule of visiting us in different jails because we were split up."

Akram who saw Anwar in prison and tried but did not succeed in convincing him to give up his hunger strike said "You would not recognize him now. He is pale and even skinnier than usual."

As Akram recounts his own tales of mistreatment in the notorious Palmyra prison, he becomes angry at his brother's fate. "When I was arrested, at least I knew why; I had been a member of a forbidden group. But Anwar has done nothing wrong, except speak his mind."

Akram Bunni says he is convinced that the Beirut-Damascus statement was just a pretext for the government to arrest his brother. The week before, Anwar had been stripped of his license to practice law and in March the authorities closed down his recently opened human rights centre that was largely funded by the EU.

In Syria you are either with the regime or a traitor

One observer who wanted to remain anonymous told Ya Libnan about the jailed activists " This is the Assad regime democracy... You are either with the regime or a traitor". He added "this has been going on for almost 40 years. It is about time we have a change... I wish the opposition group good luck in their London meeting. Enough is enough".

Sources: Ya libnan, FT, UPI