Syrian opposition calls for time-frame to end fighting

 The spokesman for a gathering of Syrian opposition groups said on Friday that an international conference on the country's future later this month should focus on establishing a time-frame for an end to the fighting.

Yahya al-Aridi told the Associated Press in the Spanish city of Cordoba that the peace talks "should not go (on) forever. There should be a time plan."

With the Syrian National Council, the main Western-backed opposition group, close to collapse and fighting between rebel groups reportedly killing hundreds, some 180 representatives of groups opposed to President Bashar al-Assad's government are meeting in Cordoba, southern Spain, to seek common ground.

The so-called Geneva II conference on Syria is scheduled for January 22.

Al-Aridi said peacemakers should "just focus on finding people who have differences but at the same time ... have one common goal. AP