Syria opposition forms united front to oust Assad

BRUSSELS, Mar 17 (Reuters) Exiled Syrian opposition leaders today announced the creation of a united front aimed at forming a transitional government to bring about ''regime change'' from President Bashar al-Assad to democracy.

Former Vice-President Abdel-Halim Khaddam, who broke with Assad last year after serving under his late father Hafez al-Assad, told a news conference: ''All factions of the Syrian opposition and activists have come to the conclusion that the regime in Syria has to be changed.'' He spoke after a two-day meeting in Brussels of Syrian opposition groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, liberals, communists and Kurds, at which they drew up a joint declaration on a six-month transition period for a post-Assad era.

However, it is not clear how much popular support the combined opposition can command in Syria, a tightly controlled country where penalties for dissent can be high.

Assad is under severe international pressure over the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri last year, which prompted mass protests and a United Nations resolution forcing the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

In an interview with Reuters, Khaddam forecast an uprising in Damascus within months, saying Assad was making many mistakes and ''digging himself into a hole'', while the economic and social situation was becoming intolerable.

Fourteen exiled politicians -- all men -- appeared on the platform at a joint news conference, with Khaddam and Muslim Brotherhood leader Ali Bayanouni taking centre-stage.

Bayanouni told Reuters that Assad still enjoyed international diplomatic and political protection from the West and urged the United States and Europe to boycott the Syrian government to hasten its fall.

NO MASSACRE ''This is the first time in history that all the opposition movements inside and outside Syria have sat down at one table and agreed on a common plan,'' Husam al-Dairi, Washington-based leader of the Syrian Liberal National Democratic Party, said.

REUTERS SHR KP2305