Syria opens 'dialogue' with opposition absent

DAMASCUS: Syria opened a "national dialogue" on Sunday that it hailed as a step towards multi-party democracy after five decades of Baath party rule but its credibility was undermined by an opposition boycott.

Delegates observed a minute's silence in memory of the "martyrs" before the playing of the national anthem.

"We are going to hold a comprehensive national dialogue during which we will announce Syria's transition towards a multi-party democratic state in which everyone will be equal and able to participate in the building of the nation's future," Vice President Faruq al-Shara said in his opening address.

President Bashar al-Assad announced the dialogue in a keynote speech on June 20, only his third intervention since unprecedented protests against his rule erupted in mid-March.

Delegates were expected to include some independent MPs as well as members of the Baath party, in power since 1963.

But opposition figures said they would boycott the meeting in protest at the government's continued deadly crackdown on dissent.

A Facebook call for nationwide demonstrations against participation in the dialogue brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets on Friday.

The government said that delegates would be invited to discuss a whole raft of reforms, including amending Clause Eight of the constitution which enshrines the leading role of the Baath party in Syrian political life.

Security forces killed at least 15 people and arrested more than 200 during Friday's demonstrations against the dialogue, activists said.

Since the protests first broke out, they have killed more than 1,300 civilians and arrested at least 12,000, human rights groups say.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011