By Khaled Yacoub Oweis ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Syria's divided opposition, under heavy pressure to shake up its Islamist-dominated ranks, struck a deal on Thursday to present a more representative image to the world before a proposed international peace conference. Delegates at talks in Istanbul agreed to admit a liberal bloc led by veteran figure Michel Kilo into the Syrian National Coalition, which acts as the civilian opposition leadership in the two-year conflict with the Damascus government.

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The Syrian opposition said on Wednesday it would only take part in planned international peace talks if a deadline was set for a settlement that forces President Bashar al-Assad to leave power. In its first official reaction to the Geneva conference being prepared by the United States and Russia, the opposition coalition adopted a declaration calling for "binding international guarantees" for any resolution of Syria's two-year-old conflict.

Syria's divided opposition on Friday called on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad to bluntly state whether it was interested in peace talks and on what terms rather than use ally Moscow as its mouthpiece. Louay Safi, spokesman for the Western-backed National Coalition, the main opposition group, issued the call after Russia said Damascus had agreed "in principle" to attend a peace conference in Geneva. "We would like to hear that statement from the Assad government," said Safi, whose group is meeting in Istanbul to determine whether to attend the conference.

The pro-opposition Friends of Syria meeting held in Amman has blocked the way for the international peace conference proposed by the United States and Russia, Syrian state news agency SANA said on Thursday. "The participants, who have declared themselves spokesperson for the Syrian people, have blocked the way to the international conference (proposed by Moscow and Washington) by saying that they were going to boost support to the Syrian opposition," the agency said.