Syrian opposition figures urged President Bashar al-Assad to embrace democracy and hold elections within six months, saying he could transform the country and become a source of pride, Agence-France Presse reported.
Even as they appealed to the 46-year-old president, his forces rolled into several towns to attack pro-democracy protesters. Among the communities they attacked on Sunday was the southern town of Tafas, not far from Deraa. Mr. Assad’s military killed scores of demonstrators in Deraa last week, and also destroyed a mosque that sheltered many of them.
The Syrian Revolution 2011 said on its Facebook page: "The solution is simple: stop shooting at demonstrators, allow peaceful demonstrations, remove all your photos and those of your father, release all political prisoners, allow political pluralism and free elections in six months."
The page, an online collective of anti-regime protestors, said: "You will be the pride of contemporary Syria if you can transform [it] from a dictatorship to a democracy. Syrians would be grateful for that, and it is possible to do."
This is the first time that anyone in the opposition has offered proposals of this nature since protests began seven weeks ago. Hundreds of unarmed Syrians have been killed in President’s crackdowns, according to news reports and rights activists.
"You have been the head of the government for 11 years, and that is enough for a democrat," the statement said.
"You are not [Muammar] Qaddafi," it added, in reference to the Libyan strongman whose attempt to repress pro-democracy protests led to a rebellion in which thousands of people are said to have died.
"You are young, civilized, intelligent and open. Why do you act like him? Why do you want blood flowing? Why do you want Syria to fall into an abyss?" the statement continued in a tone that seemed to offer Mr. Assad an opportunity to hold discussions with his political opponents. At the same time, the conciliatory nature of Sunday’s statement suggested that the protesters had grown weary of killings that decimated their numbers, and the human tragedies that followed.
Their statement also asked the president to sack his advisers.
"Mr. President, wake up and rid yourself of your advisers, who want to save their positions by killing others. They are acting like Qaddafi’s advisers; don’t listen to them. If you do this, you will save Syria, and Israel will tremble with fear. Otherwise it is Israel which wins and Syria who loses. You have always talked about resistance against Israel. The time has arrived to confirm this with action not words," the statement said.
Syria and Israel do not have diplomatic relations. In 2008, Turkish-brokered talks in which feelers about a peace deal were sent out, were broken off after Israel launched a devastating 22-day offensive against the Gaza Strip that December.
Syria has always maintained that for any peace deal to be considered, Israel must return Golan Heights, which it captured in 1967 and annexed in 1981 in a move never recognized by the international community.