‘Friends of Syria’ to convene on Friday

Arab and Western powers will gather with the Syrian opposition in Tunisia on Friday for a meeting aimed at boosting international efforts to end the increasingly bloody crisis in Syria. The "Friends of Syria" conference will gather top diplomats from the Arab League, Europe and the United States. Representatives from the Syrian National Council (SNC) and other opposition groups will be at the meeting and are expected to come under pressure to work for the creation of a united group to represent opponents of the regime. For his part, Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem said: "There has been enough killing. There must be radical political change." "We all agree on the need to urge the Syrian government to put an end to its suppression of demonstration. There are rights that should be secured for the people of Syria. They have a right to freedom and democracy," he added. Abdessalem said however that there was little appetite for a foreign military intervention in Syria, saying "we don't want an Iraqi scenario."