Syrian opposition groups have gathered in the Qatari capital, Doha, for a key meeting on how to form a more united front against President Assad.
The Syrian National Council will hold talks with the Syrian National Initiative, a group of influential and respected opposition figures who are proposing the creation of a unified leadership body that would later produce a government in exile, possibly as early as next month.
There are hopes that the new leadership will help bring a successful conclusion to an uprising that has killed more than 36,000 people since protests against Assad erupted in March 2011.
Representatives at Doha will include various other religious and secular groupings, plus Kurdish figures and dissident Alawites.