Tanks enter Homs as Syrian opposition struggles to unite

Opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were meeting in Istanbul Saturday to launch a “national council” to fight his regime. Tanks moved into the city of Homs at dawn Saturday, according to exile sources.

REUTERS/Osman Orsal

On Friday a group of 44 “revolutionary blocs”, including the organisers of The Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook page, signed up to the Syrian Revolution General Commission in an attempt to unite anti-Assad forces.

The national council has up to 150 members, half is Syria, half in exile, dissident Obeida al-Nahhas told the AFP news agency.

Tanks moved into Homs early Saturday morning, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, which says that at least 34 protesters were killed across the country on Friday.

It also reported arrests in the city of Latakia early Saturday.

The UN is to send a humanitarian mission to Syria this weekend after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the Security Council on Thursday that there is “reliable corroborative evidence” that Syrian forces are deliberately shooting demonstrators.