Splintered opposition in Syria aims for unity and more support SYRIA'S splintered opposition factions started talks in Qatar this weekend with the aim of gaining international respect and recognition and, crucially, better weapons for their quest to oust president Bashar al-Assad. It was the first concerted attempt to meld opposition groups based abroad and align them with rebels fighting in Syria. Tensions between Islamists and secularists as well as between those inside Syria and opposition figures based abroad have thwarted prior attempts to forge a united opposition. Four days of talks in the Qatari capital Doha are anticipated, with the goal of overhauling and broadening the Syrian National Council (SNC), the largest of the overseas-based opposition groups, from some 300 members to 400. SNC leaders hoped this would pave the way to a follow-up meeting in Doha this Thursday bringing in other opposition factions with the goal of setting aside months of political and personal infighting and creating an anti-Assad coalition The main aim is to expand the council to include more of the social and political components. There will be new forces in the SNC," Abdulbaset Sieda, current leader of the Syrian National Council, told reporters in Doha ahead of the meeting. The US called last week for an overhaul of the opposition's leadership, saying it was time to move beyond the SNC and bring in those "in the front lines fighting and dying." Secretary of state Hillary Clinton said the meeting in Qatar would be an opportunity to establish a credible opposition. Internal feuding, a lack of co-operation between leaders abroad and fighters in Syria and the rising clout of autonomous Muslim militants in rebel ranks have deterred Western powers from offering more than moral support. Influential opposition figure Riad Seif has proposed a structure melding the rebel Free Syrian Army, regional military councils and other insurgent units alongside local civilian bodies and prominent opposition figures. Yesterday, he called for a more active role by the international community to support the opposition. The world is watching like it's a film. Now the world must come to help really and not just make statements," he told reporters. Western diplomats based in the Middle East said Washington was supporting an initiative by Mr Seif. But opposition sources said the success of Mr Seif's initiative would depend partly on the degree to which he could resist pressure from the SNC to pack the new assembly proposed by him with its members. We did not say we are rejecting it [Seif's initiative] and we did not accept it. We are talking," the SNC's Mr Sieda said. We welcome a consultative meeting for the powers on the ground and the political factions in the Syrian opposition ... the SNC remains the main power in the Syrian opposition particularly after this expansion. Senior SNC member Burhan Ghalioun said the assembly proposed by Mr Seif would complement the SNC structure but not replace it. Mr Ghalioun said the SNC backed "creating a circle that brings the opposition parties together and works as one team." "We will succeed if we make [the Seif initiative] an operation room for the opposition," he said in Doha, adding that the SNC has 15 seats in the assembly proposed by Seif, and want to increase that to around 22 seats.