King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Friday held talks with Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State. The talks covered the overall situation and developments in regional and international arenas, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. An Associated Press report said Clinton sought to work out a unified strategy on the crisis in Syria in her talks with Saudi officials as further violence stymied UN efforts to convince Damascus to implement a ceasefire. Clinton's talks with King Abdullah and other officials come ahead of a 60-nation gathering of the “Friends of the Syrian People” in Istanbul over the weekend aimed at finding ways to aid Syria's opposition. The US is hoping to help unify the splintered opposition's ranks while pushing for humanitarian aid and further isolation of Bashar Al-Assad's regime. Saudi Arabia, along with fellow Gulf nation Qatar, has called for a more aggressive approach, including arming the rebels and carving out a safe haven inside Syria from which the opposition can operate. Earlier on her arrival in the Saudi capital, Clinton held talks with Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Foreign Minister. 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 UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's efforts. International opponents of Assad are struggling to pin down a strategy on Syria as a peace plan put forward by Annan has so far failed to get off the ground. Syria has accepted the six-point plan, which includes a call for it to implement a ceasefire, but so far there has been no halt in fighting, and the opposition suspects Assad has no intention of stopping his crackdown and is only playing for time. Assad said Thursday that he wants the plan to succeed, but insisted that the opposition must first commit to a ceasefire as well. Annan urged the Syrian government to halt its troops first. “The government must stop first and then discuss a cessation of hostilities with the other side,” Annan spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said Friday. “We are appealing to the stronger party to make a gesture of good faith. ... The deadline is now.” “Clearly, we have not seen a cessation of hostilities and this is of great concern,” he said.
