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.

Syria's outgoing opposition chief published an initiative for his war-torn country on Thursday that would grant President Bashar al-Assad a safe exit, and urged dissident factions to adopt his plan. Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib published his initiative on Facebook, as the main National Coalition he headed until March gathered in Istanbul to choose a new leader and discuss a US-Russian peace initiative dubbed Geneva 2. Under Khatib's initiative, Assad would have 20 days from Thursday to give "his acceptance of a peaceful transition of authority".

World powers early Thursday vowed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had no role in the future of Syria and pledged to boost support to the opposition until a transitional government is in place. In a joint statement issued at the end of more then five hours of talks in Jordan, the 11 nations agreed that "Assad, his regime, and his close associates with blood on their hands cannot play any role in the future of Syria". jkb/jj

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Saturday he welcomed a US-Russian peace initiative to end Syria's civil war but had no plans to resign, in an interview with an Argentine newspaper. "To resign would be to flee," he told the Clarin when asked if he would consider stepping aside as called for by US Secretary of State John Kerry. "I don't know if Kerry or anyone else has received the power of the Syrian people to talk in their name about who should go and who should stay. That will be determined by the Syrian people in the 2014 presidential elections," Assad said.