Clinton & Saudis 'explore' Syria!

(AP) — ".... The U.S. is hoping to help unify the splintered opposition's ranks while pushing for humanitarian aid and further isolation of Assad's regime. Saudi Arabia, along with fellow Gulf nation Qatar, has called for a more aggressive approach, ....

International opponents of Assad are struggling to pin down a strategy on Syria as a peace plan put forward by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has so far failed to get off the ground. Syria has accepted the six-point plan,... Assad said Thursday that he wants the plan to succeed, but insisted that the opposition must first commit to a cease-fire as well....

"Clinton will hold extensive talks with Saudi counterparts on the situation in Syria and on American efforts to stop bloodbath in Syria," a Saudi Foreign Ministry official in Riyadh said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he not authorized to discuss the talks.

The talks came a day after an Arab League summit in Baghdad, where divisions among Arab nations over Syria were clear. In a sign that they see little hope in diplomatic efforts from the League, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf countries sent only low-level officials to the summit. In the end, the summit issued a joint resolution that held little new beyond expressing support for Annan's efforts.....

For the U.S. and its allies, Syria is proving an especially murky conflict and one with no easy solutions. Assad's regime is of Washington's clearest foes, a government that has long been closely allied with Iran and anti-Israel groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia and other Sunni-led Gulf countries are eager to see Assad's fall in hopes of breaking Syria out of its alliance with their regional rival, Shiite-majority Iran.

But the Syrian opposition is chronically fragmented. The Syrian National Council, a nominal opposition umbrella group based abroad, has limited authority on the ground. Syrian army defectors have set up a military leadership based in neighboring Turkey, but they too have only nominal command over the multiple armed rebel groups inside Syria. The U.S. has warned that al-Qaida and other Islamic militants are also taking advantage of the turmoil, attacking Assad's regime and trying to gain a foothold inside Syria.....

Asked what might constitute success for Sunday's Friends of the Syrian People meeting in Istanbul, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, "We want to focus on humanitarian aid ........."