Syria's dissidents

The news broke the same day Syria's main opposition coalition, the Syrian National Council, was due to announce the results of three-day talks in Tunisia:

Damascus said Monday it had agreed to allow foreign observers into Syria as part of an Arab League peace plan meant to end the regime's bloody crackdown on dissent.

Yet the opposition council's leader, Burhan Ghalioun, dismissed the announcement as a "ploy," saying the country's leaders had no plans to implement "any initiative."

"The Syrian regime is maneuvering to try to prevent the Syrian file being submitted to the UN Security Council," Ghalioun said, on the heels of the SNC's conference in Tunisia.

As President Bashar al-Assad's regime continues its brutal assault on the opposition, the SNC conference sought to find a strategy to protect Syria's civilian population.

The three-day talks in the resort town of Gammarth, near the Tunisian capital, were also aimed at hammering out how to proceed in the event of Assad's ouster.

It took several months before various dissident groups within the broader opposition movement joined forces under the "Syrian National Council" banner in August.

But its members have held very different opinions on what should happen in a post-Assad Syria. The question of strategy in the run-up to any political transition has been equally contentious.

The SNC's make-up mirrors that of Syria itself. The country is home to a number of different ethnic (Arab, Kurdish, Armenian) and religious (Sunni, Shiite, Alawite, Christian) groups - with very different interests. That has raised the question of whether the council can serve as a representative voice for the Syrian people.

Media blackout

Some of Syria's more than 20 million inhabitants actively support the uprising against the Assad regime. Yet there are no exact figures on just how many - or on the number of peaceful protesters versus armed dissidents.

Obtaining reliable information on the situation in Syria is difficult, as the country's leadership has restricted independent reporting and barred most foreign journalists.

The United Nations estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed since the unrest began in March.

The SNC is looking to unite Assad's detractors, topple his government - and serve as a liaison for the outside world.

"The problem during the first phase of the uprising was that there was no point of contact," said Heiko Wimmen, a Syria expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).

"The Syrian National Council is looking to serve as an alternative to the regime and establish its credibility."

Push for recognition

Most members of the SNC live abroad, though a smaller contingent is actively organizing anti-Assad demonstrations from within Syria. Their names are kept secret for safety regions.

The council is looking for diplomatic recognition as Syria's government-in-exile. Libya, under new leadership after the ouster of the late Moammar Gadhafi, was the first UN member state to declare the SNC as Syria's sole legitimate representative.

Yet other countries have been hesitant to grant the council recognition. "It is still unclear what legitimacy the National Council actually has to speak for the Syrian people," Wimmen told Deutsche Welle.

The situation is complicated by the fact that Syria has become a staging ground for the regional tug-of-war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Though most Arab countries, the United States and other Western powers support the Syrian protest movement, Iran is still backing the Assad regime.

Only a few Arab states - those with strong ties to Iran and influential Shiite contingents in government, such as Iraq and Lebanon - still support the Syrian leader.

A legitimate representative?

Since its founding, the opposition Syrian National Council has been hit with a range of criticisms.

Some say the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood holds far more sway in the council than it does in Syria itself. It is also unclear whether the opposition's non-violent strategy is sustainable - though there are increasing reports of attacks on Assad supporters.

Meanwhile, the Syrian leader is not universally opposed by his people. On Monday, thousands of Assad supporters staged a protest in Damascus after the announcement of the Arab League agreement.

"The regime is still able to mobilize mass demonstrations of people, who certainly aren't being held there at gunpoint," Wimmen said.

"At this point, the Syrian National Council cannot be seen as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people."

Author: Anne Allmeling, AFP, dpa / arp

Editor: Rob Mudge