THE Syrian National Council is facing a key decision on whether to join other groups in a more unified opposition.The Syrian National Initiative aims to merge the disparate military and political groups to form a credible alternative to the Assad government. Western and Gulf states have been pushing for such a body, which would act as a conduit for humanitarian - and possibly military - aid.Meanwhile, UN agencies are in Geneva to discuss the aid operation in Syria.Improving access for aid workers will be top of the agenda at the sixth meeting of the Syrian humanitarian forum, which brings together UN aid agencies and member states.The Syrian government has strictly limited the presence of foreign aid agencies.The uprising against President Assad’s rule has become increasingly violent since it began in March last year.Activists estimate that more than 35,000 people have lost their lives. The UN says some 1.2 million Syrians have been displaced, and more than two million are in need of aid.Turkey said some 8,000 people had crossed over its border on Thursday night, bringing the total number of Syrians in the country to nearly 120,000.The opposition meeting is taking place in the Qatari capital, Doha, under the auspices of the Arab League, with Western powers from the international Friends of Syria group also attending.So far, the Syrian National Council, itself an umbrella group, has been the most prominent opposition, but it has failed to produce a united front in the bid to topple President Bashar al-Assad.It has also been criticised for the fact its members are largely based outside Syria.The US has said it wants to set up a broader opposition leadership council in which the SNC’s influence is diluted.The Syrian National Initiative, proposed by prominent dissident Riad Seif, would supplant the Council and bring together Syria’s exiled and internal opposition, allowing it to become the conduit for foreign assistance.But the BBC’s Jim Muir, in Doha, says the SNC is wary of signing up as a minority element in a new leadership, without clear guarantees that the new body will be given the kind of support needed to tilt the balance against the regime. The SNC, which has been holding its own talks in Doha all week, will elect a new executive and president on Friday morning, before deciding whether to back the initiative.
