Syria opposition leader al-Khatib urges Assad to negotiate

Syrian opposition leader Moaz al-Khatib has urged President Bashar al-Assad to respond to his offer of peace talks. Mr Khatib, recently elected head of the Syrian National Coalition, called on Mr Assad to give his vice-president the task of opening negotiations. He said the aim would be to help the Syrian regime stand down peacefully, to spare further bloodshed. The US has backed Mr Khatib's initiative but there has been no response so far from Damascus. The opposition leader dismayed many of his colleagues last week with his offer to talk to government officials...