Negotiations between the various Syrian opposition groups continue at all hours at the Doha Sheraton, but no resolutions have yet been made, media reports state.

Both the US and Qatar are pushing toward the goal of creating a unified organization to oppose the current regime of Bashar al Assad, but dissidents appear to remain divided, with “huge differences between the members of the Syrian National Council and other opposition figures,” Al Jazeera English reports.

The issue of US backing has also come up, the New York Times reports:

“We are all waiting for Mr. Obama,” (Salman Shaikh, the director of the Brookings Doha Center), said…

Participants said much of Thursday was spent on flowery speeches about nationalism rather than addressing unity. But after a marathon session that went past midnight, they said they had made progress, spurred not least by the fact that their Qatari hosts told them they must stay in Doha until they reached an agreement.

Meanwhile, al Assad told Russian TV that he had no plans to flee his country:

I am not a puppet. I was not made by the West to go to the West or to any other country. I am Syrian, I was made in Syria, I have to live in Syria and die in Syria. 

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Omar Chatriwala