Syrian dissidents meeting in Turkey have formally announced the creation a national council calling for world help

Syria’s main opposition groups joined together on Sunday to call on the international community to take action to “protect” their countrymen.

A statement issued in Istanbul on behalf of the newly formed National Council rejected foreign intervention that “compromises Syria’s sovereignty” but said the outside world had a humanitarian obligation to protect the Syrian people.

“The council demands international governments and organizations meet their responsibility to support the Syrian people, protect them and stop the crimes and gross human rights violations being committed by the illegitimate current regime,” the statement said.

The Istanbul declaration was read out by Bourhan Ghalioun, a secular professor of politics living in France.
The statement said the Muslim Brotherhood, the Damascus Declaration – the main grouping of established opposition figures – and grassroots activists all had joined the National Council. Ghalioun said with the new group, the Syrian opposition would act as "a united front in the face of the daily massacres committed by the regime against unarmed civilians, most recently in Rastan."

“The fact that Islamists, secular figures and activists in the ground are now on one council is a significant,” a diplomat in Damascus said. “But they still have to demonstrate that they could be politically savvy and able to fill any political vacuum. They need a detailed action plan beyond the generalities of wanting a democratic Syria.”

Among those represented in the Damascus Declaration are former parliamentarian Riad Seif, seen as possibly playing a leadership role if Assad were to fall, and Riad al-Turk, Syria’s top dissident.

Syrian troops have retaken control of the central town of Rastan after sending in 250 tanks to quell clashes between the army and deserters, human rights activists said on Sunday.