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| Protests started in March have provided impetus for the formation of a coherent opposition body |
Syria's opposition says it has agreed on the aims and structure of its newly-formed political grouping, following talks in Turkey.
After a two-day meeting, leaders said the Syrian National Council (SNC) was aiming to bring about a new, democratic Syria and was open to all citizens.
The council was created last month in an attempt to unite opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.
Meanwhile, government troops have retaken the central town of Rastan.
The town of 40,000, in the restive province of Homs, has seen days of fierce fighting between Mr Assad's forces and army defectors who refused to fire on protesters.
At least 2,700 people are believed to have been killed in six months of protests against Mr Assad, who has refused to step down.
'Struggle for liberty'
"The Syrian National Council reunites the forces of the opposition and the peaceful revolution," Burhan Ghalioun, who had earlier been named as chairman, told AFP news agency.
"It is an independent group personifying the sovereignty of the Syrian people in their struggle for liberty.
"The council rejects any outside interference that undermines the sovereignty of the Syrian people," he added.
Mr Ghalioun, a France-based academic, was named last month as the leader of the council, which has Islamist and nationalist supporters and includes the Local Coordination Committees, which organises activists on the ground.
Mr Ghalioun added that the SNC would allow "a united direction to face up to the daily massacres of civilians by the regime, especially in Rastan."
On Sunday, activists and state TV said government troops now had full control of Rastan, 160km (100 miles) north of Damascus.
Activists said the government had sent in 250 tanks and armoured vehicles in an attempt to suppress the revolt, and that 50 of those vehicles left on Sunday.
"Many houses have been destroyed there and the humanitarian situation is very bad," the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"We have information that dozens of civilians were killed and buried in the gardens of houses as the army shelled the town," it added, according to AP news agency.
Foreign journalists are restricted from operating freely in Syria and reports cannot be independent verified.
Army deserters said in a statement they had been forced to retreat.
"Because of major reinforcements and the weapons used in Rastan by Assad's gangs... we have decided to withdraw in order to better wage the struggle for liberty," the statement said.
State news agency Sana reported that "stability and calm have been restored" in the town and that life had returned to normal.
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