Syrian officials and delegates attend the national dialogue meeting in Damascus on July 10, 2011.NEW: "The bloodshed needs to stop. ... Excessive force is unjustified," one activist saysSyria's vice president says the meeting is a step toward creating a "democratic nation"Some government opponents criticize the Damascus University meetingSyria's foreign ministry summons U.S. and French ambassadors(CNN) -- Activists speaking at a Syrian government-sponsored "national dialogue" meeting Sunday criticized recent crackdowns by the country's security forces, calling for an end to violence against protesters.
Syria's vice president hailed the Damascus University meeting between officials and members of the opposition as a step toward creating a "democratic nation."
"We hope that at the end of this comprehensive meeting to announce the transition of Syria to a pluralistic democratic nation where all citizens are guided by equality and participate in the modeling of the future of their country," Vice President Faruq al-Shara said in opening remarks at the meeting, which was broadcast live on state television.
Syrian activists say that security personnel have assaulted unarmed protesters during months of anti-government demonstrations that erupted nationwide in mid-March. The Syrian government has claimed armed groups are responsible for the violence at the demonstrations.
Several speakers at Sunday's meeting called on Syria's government to change its tactics.
"The bloodshed needs to stop. Yes, there are unauthorized protests, but is it a reason to use unjustified and excessive violence? The use of all types of excessive force is unjustified," said Qadri Jameel of the opposition Front of Change and Liberation.
Syrian researcher Al-Tayyeb Tizzina also criticized the use of force and asked for violence to stop in order for the dialogue to succeed.
"The establishment of a political society requires the immediate start of a process dismantling the police state that is dominating Syria," he said.
Al-Shara acknowledged that a surge of violence in Syria precipitated Sunday's meeting.
"We have to admit that without the big sacrifices that were presented by the Syrian people, from the blood of their sons, civilians or military in more than one province, city and town, this meeting wouldn't have happened," he said.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said the meeting included members of the opposition, independent activists, youth leaders and academics.
But some opponents of President Bashar al-Assad's regime have criticized the meeting, saying the government is trying to quiet widespread unrest without making meaningful changes.
Demonstrators protested the meeting in nationwide "no dialogue" marches Friday.
"Any dialogue must be based on the base of (al-Assad's) stepping down from power," said a statement from the Change in Syria Conference, an opposition group which called for al-Assad to hand over power to the vice president at a meeting in Turkey last month.
Sunday's dialogue meeting began as Syria's foreign ministry summoned the U.S. and French ambassadors and accused them of interfering in internal affairs when they visited Syria's fourth largest city without permission last week, state media reported.
The ministry told the diplomats that their visit to the city of Hama violated the Vienna Convention, according to SANA.
On Thursday, U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford visited Hama as part of what the State Department called an
effort to show American support for Syrians fighting for democracy. He was in Hama early Friday and departed.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland issued a blunt rebuttal to similar Syrian government accusations Friday, calling claims that Ford's visit was inciting protesters "absolute rubbish" and saying she was "dismayed" by the Syrian government's reaction. Nuland said that the U.S. Embassy had notified the Syrian Defense Ministry before the visit and that Ford's car was waved through a security checkpoint.
France's ambassador to Syria, Eric Chevallier, also visited Hama Thursday and spent the night, the French government said, meeting with wounded people and their families and medical staffers at a hospital.
Al-Assad issued a decree appointing a Hama provincial governor Sunday, a day after firing the existing leader after a series of peaceful demonstrations there, including a massive anti-government protest last Friday.
Activists and Human Rights Watch have reported many arrests and deaths in a fierce government crackdown in the area. Citizens have called a general strike in the city.
Diplomatic tensions over Syria also flared in Washington last week, with the State Department summoning Syrian Ambassador Imad Mustapha Friday.
The State Department said Mustapha was called "to express a number of our concerns with the reported actions of certain Syrian embassy staff in the United States."
The statement, issued in response to a question taken at Friday's daily briefing, said the State Department had received reports that Syrian mission personnel had been conducting video surveillance of people participating in peaceful demonstrations in the United States.
"We are also investigating reports that the Syrian government has sought retribution against Syrian family members for the actions of their relatives in the United States exercising their lawful rights in this country and will respond accordingly," the statement said.CNN's Yousuf Basil and Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report.
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