BEIRUT – Syria’s two largest opposition groups signed an agreement on setting up a democracy after President Bashar Assad’s regime falls, opposition figures said Saturday.

The move is so far the most serious by the fractured opposition to unite against the regime and shows that Assad’s opponents will accept nothing less than his departure from power.

Burhan Ghalioun, leader of the Syrian National Council, and Haytham Manna of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria, or NCB, signed the draft in Cairo on Friday night, according to an NCB statement and Omar Idilbi of the SNC.

Syria’s uprising began in March, inspired by other Arab Spring revolts. The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have died as the government has sought to crush the revolt.

On Tuesday, scores of Arab monitors, who are the first that Syria has allowed into the country during the uprising, began their work on the ground visiting hot spots around the country. They are supposed to ensure the regime complies with terms of the Cairo-based 22-member Arab League’s plan to end Assad’s crackdown on dissent.

Despite the observers’ presence, regime force have continued the crackdown. At least six people were killed in attacks on protests Saturday, including one in Damascus, according to the Local Coordination Committees, an activist group. A day earlier, at least 27 were killed.

An amateur video released late Friday showed an observer telling protesters in the southern city of Daraa, where the uprising began, that he saw snipers with “our own eyes and we call upon (Syrian) authorities to withdraw them.”

The observer is heard saying if they snipers are not withdrawn within 24 hours “there will be other measures.”

The reports of death tolls could not be verified because journalists’ activities are restricted by authorities.

The agreement between the opposition coalitions says both groups reject any foreign military intervention in Syria and call for the protection of civilians by all legitimate means in the framework of international laws.

It also said that as soon as Assad’s regime falls, a “transitional period” will begin by preserving all state institutions, then drafting a new constitution that guarantees a “civilian pluralist parliamentary democratic system.” Then elections for a new parliament and president would be held.

The draft also says that all Syrian citizens are equal and the country’s Kurdish minority is a “fundamental and historic” part of Syria’s national structure.