Syrian dissidents meeting in Damascus yesterday pledged to press ahead with a “peaceful uprising for freedom” until the creation of a “democratic state”.

The authorities, meanwhile, invited the opposition to a July 10 meeting to discuss key changes to the Constitution amid the wave of unrest that has pitted pro-demo-cracy protesters against security forces since mid-March.

“There are two ways forward – the first a clear and non-negotiable move to a peaceful trans-ition to democracy which would rescue our country and our people,” opposition activist Munzer Khaddam told the meeting.

“The alternative is a road that leads into the unknown and which will destroy everyone,” he added.

Opposition figures, all independent of any party affiliation, had gathered in a Damascus hotel to discuss a way out of the crisis in a public meeting they said was unprecedented in five decades of iron-fisted Baath rule.

The US hailed this “first meeting of opposition figures in Syria” as “significant” even if there are no “outcomes yet”.