Opposition agrees to expand membership in Doha meeting

Syrians inspecting the site of an explosion in the Mazzeh district of Damascus Syrian rebels detonated a car bomb on Monday that killed 50 pro-regime fighters, as air strikes continue against rebels. The suicide car bomb attack on a military post in the central province of Hama killed at least 50 government troops and loyalist militiamen, sources said.
The attack was one of the deadliest against pro-regime forces since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule in March last year.
Security sources said a car bomb attack also killed 11 people and wounded dozens in the west Damascus district of Mazzeh.
The Syrian regime continued to launch aircraft attacks on rebels around Syria. One air strike reportedly killed at least 22 rebel fighters in Hare in the northwestern province of Idlib.
Fighting also broke out on the edge of the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp. Thirty-one people died from shelling at the camp on Sunday and Monday, sources said.
Nationwide, at least 192 people were killed in Monday's violence: 53 civilians, 85 soldiers and 54 rebels.
A meeting of the Syrian National Council was held in Qatar, where the United States is reportedly pressing for a new umbrella organisation to unite the opposition.
The main Syrian opposition bloc agreed on Monday to broaden its structure to accommodate 13 other groups.
The decision by the Syrian National Council (SNC) came on the second day of a four-day meeting of opposition groups in Doha aimed at forging a more united front against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Sources said Riad Seif could be the potential head of a new government-in-exile dubbed the Syrian National Initiative.
Seif on Sunday denied planning to head such a government, while SNC chief Abdel Basset Sayda denounced what he called "efforts to bypass the SNC".
On Tuesday, SNC members will debate a proposal put forward by Seif to create a new political body to represent the opposition, folding in the SNC and other anti-regime groups.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused countries that support the rebels of encouraging them to fight rather than pressuring them to negotiate.
Gunfire from the Syrian side of the armistice line hit an Israeli military vehicle in the occupied Golan Heights on Monday, sources said.