Louay Safi
Louay SafiSDE Press Photo

A Syrian activist says a group of opposition members are set to announce a national council in their bid to present a united front against President Bashar Al Assad's regime.

Louay Safi, a US-based Syrian-American academic who writes on democracy, human rights and Islam, told the AP that a group of activists will on Thursday announce a 130-member council, made up of 60 exiled opponents and 70 dissidents inside Syria.

The council was initially intended to have 120 members, 60 inside Syria and 60 outside, but the decision was taken to weight the council towards those still inside the country.

Safi proposed the council in mid-August, but Thursday's announcement is the first word that the move has actually come to fruition. 

Members of the group have been meeting in neighbouring Turkey in an attempt to form a unified platform, although not everyone among Syria's opposition, fragmented by ideology and mistrust, supports their initiative.

Safi says the Council is broad-based and includes Sunnis, Shiites, Alawites, Kurds and members of the Muslim Brotherhood. He says it is "open to everyone unless they are against democracy."

Over 2,600 civlians have been killed by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad since anti-regime protesters began earlier this year.