Opposition groups draft post-Assad roadmap

Syrian opposition activists have drafted a political roadmap after a possible ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, drawing on examples from other states that moved to democracy such as South Africa.
The working group, which brought together a broad spectrum of political organisations and religious faiths, produced a report called "The Day after Project: Supporting a Democratic Transition in Syria".
In a copy of the document obtained by AFP, the drafters said they saw their recommendations as a "starting point" for discussion on how to achieve stability, security and the rule of law after a fall of Assad.
The project was initiated by the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in partnership with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin and developed by about 45 Syrians.
The document, the first of its kind from the Syrian opposition, offers recommendations for writing a new constitution and principles for institution building, and cites South Africa's post-apartheid transition as potentially "instructive".
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday the foreign "conspiracy" against his country would be defeated after the "massacre" of over 330 people in the town of Daraya.
And rebels claimed they shot down an army helicopter during fierce fighting in Damascus yesterday, saying it was to avenge the massacre.
State television said the aircraft crashed near a mosque in the eastern district of Qaboon, where activists reported shelling, heavy fire by combat helicopters and clashes between government troops and Free Syrian Army rebels.
"The Syrian people will not allow this conspiracy to achieve its objectives" and will defeat it "at any price," Assad said during a meeting in Damascus with a top official from Iran, Syria's chief regional ally.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 320 people were killed in a five-day onslaught on Daraya, a satellite town southwest of the capital, by troops battling to crush insurgents.