Five Arab countries and Turkey have reiterated that President Bashar al-Assad should have no role in the future of Syria, as Russia and the United States proposed a peace conference. The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as that of Turkey -- all supporters of the Syrian opposition -- expressed their stand at a meeting late Monday in Abu Dhabi, WAM Emirati news agency said.

Relations between erstwhile allies Turkey and Syria, which share a long border, have soured since the revolt broke out against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in March 2011. Turkey is now home to an estimated 400,000 refugees and harbours many of the Syrian opposition's top civilian and military leaders. At least 40 people were killed Saturday in twin car bomb blasts in the border town of Reyhanli, the worst such attack since the start of the conflict. Ankara said it suspected Damascus. Key developments:

More than 80,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict since it erupted more than two years ago, a monitoring group said on Sunday. Nearly half of those who have died were civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Britain-based watchdog said it has documented the killing of around 82,257 people, including 34,473 civilians -- among them 4,788 children and 3,049 women. It has also recorded the deaths of 16,687 rebels, including defected military personnel.

Two explosive-laden cars blew up in a small Turkish town near the border with Syria on Saturday, killing 18 people in one of the deadliest recent attacks in the volatile area. The bombings in the town of Reyhanli, just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria, come amid increasingly bellicose criticism by Ankara of the regime in Damascus. Interior Minister Muammer Guler said the explosions were caused by car bombs that blew up near the town hall and the post office in Reyhanli, according to the Anatolia news agency.