The meeting, which kicked off Tuesday in Saudi capital Riyadh, brings together more than 100 opposition figures, including 21 from the Syrian National Coalition and 19 representing "moderate" Syrian armed groups.At the meeting, participants will try to reach consensus on the best means of ending the conflict and will choose negotiators to represent them in the application of principles agreed to at 2012 talks held in Geneva.
"The conference will lead to the formation of a Syrian national congress represented by an internationally recognized delegation of negotiators tasked with talking to members of the Syrian regime’s delegation [in Geneva]," Jamal Khashakji, a Saudi political expert, told Anadolu Agency.
Khashakji added that Saudi Arabia was doing its best to find a peaceful solution in Syria, noting that the conference was also intended to send a message to Russia that "there is no single Syrian party that can assume all power or dominate the country’s transition".
The conference includes all "moderate" Syrian opposition groups and excludes all radical ones, including the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front.
A first round of peace talks on Syria was held in Geneva in June 2012 with the aim of finding a political solution to the conflict. A second round of talks was held in Geneva in January of last year.
At least 250,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in early 2011, according to UN figures.Follow @hassanplace
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