Syrian opposition calls on Assad to end repression.
The request came after security forces fired warning shots to disperse young students who were calling for the fall of the regime.
Dozens of Syrian opposition members on Sunday called on President Bashar al-Assad to end the violent six-month offensive or confront escalating peaceful protests in the country, after security forces fired warning shots to disperse young students demanding the regime's downfall.
A weekend meeting drew over 200 opposition figures, including writer Michel Kilo and Hassan Abdul-Azim, who leads the unrecognized Arab Socialist Democratic Union party. It was also noteworthy that the meeting was held inside Syria, rather than in a neighboring country, as was the case with most others.
A statement released after the meeting called on the Assad regime to immediately end the "acts of repression" and urged protesters to maintain the peaceful movement and not give in to armed conflict. Opposition members also reiterated their opposition to international intervention in Syria, although people in the streets called for unspecified external assistance.
The popular uprising in Syria began in mid-March amid a wave of protests in the Arab world that toppled the autocrats of Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. Assad responded forcefully with a crackdown that, according to estimates by the United Nations (UN), has already killed approximately 2.600 people.