Syrian opposition groups leading anti- government protests based in the country on Tuesday said authorities have offered to meet with them.
"High-level security figures gave the green light for mediators to set dates for separate meetings with opposition figures inside the country," an opposition source told the German Press Agency DPA.
Activists said they were ready to take up the offer for talks, provided "it is serious, and not to buy time."
But some activists, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the offer could be a ploy by security forces to find out more about the various opposition groups coordinating the protests.
Opposition groups were holding a series of public rallies in honor of those killed in recent crackdowns on demonstrations calling for reform.
On Tuesday, thousands of protesters gathered in the southern city of Daraa, according to the Facebook page of one of the groups, Youth Syria for Freedom.
"The regime is using the most brutal means to quell the protests," one activist told dpa by phone.
"They are arresting anyone without evidence, even children whose ages vary between 12 and 14," he said. The activist said security forces removed the nails of some of the children, in "torture" sessions when the demonstrations first started in mid-March.
"The world is only hearing 10 percent of what is really happening on the ground in Syria and the oppression this regime is exercising," he said.
Another Facebook group, Syrian Revolution 2011, which has some 100,000 supporters, has called for a rally against the ruling Baath Party, outside its Damascus headquarters Thursday.
In Damascus, prime minister-designate Adel Safar is holding consultations to form a new cabinet, the Syrian Al Watan newspaper reported Tuesday.
The newspaper, which is the mouthpiece of the government, said that the new cabinet will likely be formed next week.