epa03919387 President of the Syrian National Coalition, Ahmed Asi Al Jarba, during a press confrence after a meeting of the ‘London 11’, the core group of the Friends of Syria, in London, Britain, 22 October 2013. Western and Arab countries on 22 October urged the Syrian opposition to attend a planned peace conference in Geneva, with British Foreign Secretary William Hague saying it offered Syrians ‘the best hope to improve their lives.’ Foreign ministers from the 11-strong Friends of Syria group had agreed ‘a number of important steps’ at their London meeting according to Hague, including that the Geneva process ‘must lead to the establishing by mutual consent of a transitional governing body.’ EPA/TAL COHEN