They stayed unmolested in a hotel amid protests . ` ` We must change this tyrannical regime , '' a former political prisoner says . Other activists say the Syrian government was n't represented . White ##house calls event ` ` a worthwhile step '' Syria 's embattled government allowed about 200 activists and intellectuals , including some it had previously jailed , to hold a conference on democratic reform Monday at a Damascus hotel . but the violence has to stop .
They stayed unmolested in a hotel amid protests . ` ` We must change this tyrannical regime , '' a former political prisoner says . Other activists say the Syrian government was n't represented . White ##house calls event ` ` a worthwhile step '' but the violence has to stop .