Syrian opposition pelted with eggs as death toll rises

Angry Syrian protesters pelted a group of opposition leaders with eggs outside Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Wednesday, preventing them from entering the building for talks with the organization's chief about the violence in Syria.     

The fault lines within the movement continue to hamper its efforts to topple Assad and have prevented the opposition from gaining the traction it needs to present a credible alternative to the regime. Instead, it remains deeply divided over fundamental issues, such as whether to engage in dialogue with the regime and call for foreign military intervention.       

The protesters in Cairo apparently concerned the group of opposition leaders would agree to a dialogue with the Syrian government threw eggs at a four-man delegation of the Syrian National Coordination Committee, headed by Hassan Abdul-Azim, as they tried to enter the Arab League's headquarters in downtown Cairo.       

Members of the delegation, who were pushed and shoved by about 100 protesters, were forced to turn back. "No to dialogue with the regime," shouted one protester who gave only his first name, Amjad.       

Arab league officials said the delegation left to get a change of clothes and would return in a few hours time, but an official said later that a member of the delegation was meeting with Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby.       

The Syria-based National Coordination Committee is a rival to the broad-based Syrian National Council group that was announced in Turkey in October and rejects all forms of contact with the regime under the current crackdown.
 
An armored Syrian force stormed a plain northwest of the city of Hama on Wednesday in pursuit of army defectors challenging President Bashar Assad's rule, local activists said.   

Tanks pounded villages near the town of Maharda and casualties were reported on both sides in fighting, they added.