The National Salvation Front, the leading exiled Syrian opposition group, kicked off a the two-day meeting to discuss the action plan and to discuss with the other opposition groups ways and means of achieving these plans . the meeting will end on Monday evening

Not all the opposition leaders could be there. Most of the members that live in Syria couldn’t come. About 15 members of the opposition and human rights activists are in jail. They went on hunger strike last Tuesday to demand their immediate release. Michel Kilo , Ali Abdallah, Anwar Bunni and Mahmoud Merhi are some of the best known jailed opposition leaders that called for the strike.

The 2 anchors of The National Salvation Front are former Syrian vice-president Abdel Halim Khaddam and Ali Sadredin al-Bayanuni exiled head of the banned Muslim Brotherhood organization.

Khaddam said in his opening speech said."Regime change and the adoption of democracy are necessary for Syria to develop and advance on the path towards independence,"

Khaddam added "Syria faces two choices,"
. "The first is to maintain the current situation ...in this case the country's destiny will disappear.
. "The other is to hand the country to the people and allow political choices to be made through free elections."

Bayanuni, said that the purpose of the meeting was to set up a "national program of change".

"Peaceful and democratic change requires all the efforts of the nation," he said. He added "The starting point must be the end" of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's administration.

About 50 opponents of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, including Kurdish parties, independents and communists, are expected to participate in the talks, an aide to Khaddam said.

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

The London meeting is taking place exactly 10 days before Serge Brammertz, the head of a UN commission of inquiry submits his report about the February 2005 murder of former Lebanon's PM Rafik Hariri, which has been widely blamed on Syria.

Source: Ya Libnan, Naharnet