Group: Syrian opposition movements to form National Council

(CNN) -- Syrian opposition groups say they plan to announce details of a breakaway government as early as Saturday as reports surfaced of deadly military crackdowns against anti-government protesters.
Members of Syrian opposition groups meeting in neighboring Turkey on Friday plotted the creation of a National Council aimed at toppling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria told CNN in an email.
The National Council leadership could be announced as early as Saturday, said the opposition group, which organizes and documents protests against the al-Assad regime.
Syria has been locked in a violent months-long uprising that has seen security forces clash with anti-government protesters calling for free elections and the end of al-Assad's rule.
Al-Assad, who has characterized the protesters as "armed gangs," has insisted his security forces are battling terrorists intent on targeting civilians and fomenting unrest.
The United States, the European Union and a number of Arab countries have called an al-Assad to end the crackdown and step down.

Tensions between the United States and Syria escalated after the Syrian ambassador to the U.S. was called Friday to the State Department over an attempted attack a day earlier in Damascus on American Ambassador Robert Ford, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.
"The ambassador was reminded that Ambassador Ford is the personal representative of the president, and an attack on Ford is an attack on the United States," Nuland said.
About 100 pro-government protesters tried to storm a meeting between Ford and opposition leader Hassan Abdelazim, trapping Ford and others for more than an hour. Later, his convoy was attacked.
The al-Assad regime had earlier accused Washington of inciting "armed groups" into violence against its security forces.
Nuland said Ambassador Imad Mustapha was asked to compensate the United States for damage to the vehicles.
In a Facebook post Friday, Ford said he respected "peaceful protest" -- including by pro-government factions to express their opposition to him and U.S. policy -- but insisted that Thursday's incident was "not peaceful."
He described demonstrators wielding iron bars; throwing tomatoes, eggs and concrete blocks; attacking embassy vehicles; and trying to break into Azim's office.
"Americans understand that we are seeing the ugly side of the Syrian regime, which uses brutal force, repression and intimidation to stay in power," Ford wrote.
"We deeply feel for the Syrian families that are enduring the violence, killings and torture and pain. We hope that Syrians find solutions to the crisis soon, but we strongly doubt that the regime's terrorizing the population will end the crisis."
Syrian state-run media, citing the Foreign Ministry, reported Friday that "necessary measures" had been taken to protect Ford.
Taking a page from the success of Libya's National Transitional Council, Syrian opposition groups meeting in Istanbul worked together to bring the various groups under one opposition umbrella.
Among those expected to be represented by the National Council are the Muslim Brotherhood, the Assyrian Organization and the General Authority of the Syrian Revolution, the LCCS said.
The LCCS does not identify its membership out of a fear of reprisals by al-Assad's security forces. CNN cannot independently verify the claims of the group because the Syrian government has denied international journalists access to the country.
The meeting concluded the same day news broke that prominent anti-government activist Marwa al-Ghemyan was detained Friday by Syrian security forces at the Damascus airport.
Al-Ghemyan was detained as she was preparing to depart the capital and taken to a military security building, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement. The opposition group, which documents Syria's anti-government movement, did not say how it confirmed her detention.
CNN cannot independently confirm the claim.
Al-Ghemyan was previously detained by Syrian forces on March 4 and released on March 21, the group said.
The violence escalated Friday across Syria -- with the government saying 13 security forces and three civilians were killed in clashes, while an opposition group said 23 people, mostly civilians, died in the fighting.
Twelve of the deaths occurred in the embattled Homs province, including six in Hama and its suburbs where anti-government protesters have taken to the street, the LCCS said. Three others were killed in clashes in the suburbs of Damascus, said the LCCS.
In the northeastern town of Qamishli, hundreds of demonstrators conducted a sit-in in front of Al-Rahmeh Hospital where they chanted for national unity and demanded the end of the regime, the group said.
In Idlib, a soldier was fatally shot for refusing to shoot at demonstrators, the LCCS said.