DOHA, Qatar (AP) — A Syrian dissident trying to overhaul the Syrian opposition leadership says that if he succeeds, dozens of countries are expected to endorse the new team at a conference in Morocco.

Riad Seif spoke to reporters Sunday at the start of a five-day opposition conference in Doha.

The main opposition group, the Syrian National Council, is critical of Seif’s plan. The exile-dominated SNC would only get 15 seats out of about 50 in the new leadership group to make room for rebel fighters and others inside Syria.

SNC chief Abdelbaset Sieda says his group would demand a 40 percent share of any leadership body. Seif says that if the new team is approved at the end of the conference Thursday, a date for the Morocco conference would be set.