Western nations, Qatar and Turkey have welcomed the creation of a new Syrian coalition that aims to unify opposition against President Bashar al-Assad.
The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces was unveiled in Doha on Sunday.
Its president will be Moaz al-Khatib, a former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus who fled Syria this year.
Meanwhile, Syrian government aircraft bombed the rebel-held town of Ras al-Ain, near the border with Turkey.
Both jets and helicopters targeted the town, sending civilians fleeing into the Turkish settlement of Ceylanpinar. Casualties were reported.
Observers and activists estimate that more than 36,000 people have been killed in the long-running uprising against President Assad. Hundreds of thousands have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.
International recognitionWestern and regional powers have in recent weeks put pressure on a hitherto fractious Syrian opposition to create a unified, credible body that could become a conduit for all financial and possibly military aid.
"Start Quote
End Quote William Hague UK Foreign SecretaryThis is an important milestone in forming a broad and representative opposition that reflects the full diversity of the Syrian people"
The Syrian National Council (SNC), the previously dominant opposition umbrella group which is widely viewed as divided and ineffective, will control 22 of the 60 seats on the National Coalition's leadership council.
"We look forward to supporting the National Coalition as it charts a course toward the end of Assad's bloody rule and the start of the peaceful, just, democratic future that all the people of Syria deserve," US state department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the move was an "important milestone in forming a broad and representative opposition that reflects the full diversity of the Syrian people."
France's Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, said it would "work with its partners to secure international recognition of this new entity as the representative of the aspirations of the Syrian people".
Encouragement also came from Qatar, a key regional backer of the Syrian opposition. Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani said he would travel to the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo with Mr Khatib on Monday.
"We will seek a full recognition of this new body," he said.
Western efforts to support the Syrian opposition have been hampered by Russia and China, which have blocked three UN Security Council resolutions seeking to pressure Mr Assad to end the conflict.
Moaz al-Khatib
- Born 1960
- Son of long-standing imam of Damascus's Grand Umayyad mosque
- Studied applied geophysics
- Imam of Grand Umayyad mosque
- Detained by Syrian military intelligence
- Fled Syria for Cairo in July 2012
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu said the international community had "no excuse any more" not to support the opposition.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said only that his country supported a political transition "led by the Syrian people as soon as possible."
"We hope the moves by the relevant sides will help achieve these goals," he said.
Mr Khatib, a 52-year-old former Sunni Muslim imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, left for Cairo in July after several periods of detention by the Syrian authorities for criticising President Assad. He is seen as a moderate.
"We demand freedom for every Sunni, Alawite, Ismaili (Shia), Christian, Druze, Assyrian ... and rights for all parts of the harmonious Syrian people," he said after being elected president of the National Coalition.
The group, formed after a week of talks in Doha, will have two vice-presidents - prominent dissident Riad Seif and the leading female secular activist, Suhair al-Atassi.
Delegates said the leadership council would include representation for ethnic Kurds, Christians, Alawites and women. There will also be a military council that will reportedly include the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
The Syrian National Council (SNC), which was formerly recognised as the main opposition coalition, had been concerned it might be sidelined.
But Rima Fliehan, a spokeswoman for the SNC, told the BBC that the opposition was "one party now", adding: "This will give us hope, give the Syrian people hope and this will be an answer for the international community that all the time asks us to be one party."
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