ISTANBUL: Calling for tighter sanctions and for ways to hold Syrian leaders to account for abuses, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepared for international talks in Turkey on Sunday aimed at turning up the heat on Syria to end a deadly crackdown on protests.
The chief US diplomat arrived in Istanbul late Saturday from Riyadh where she had warned that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad risked backing out of his commitment to a six-point peace plan from UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.
Clinton will join representatives from 70 European, Arab and other countries to look at ways of supporting the opposition, who will also be present here, and applying further international pressure on the Assad regime.
During a press conference in Riyadh, Clinton reaffirmed that Washington is looking at sending non-lethal support like communications gear and medical aid to an increasingly armed opposition.
However, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are calling for arming the anti-Assad movement.
Clinton said the US focus in Istanbul will be to "intensify" the array of US, European, Canadian, Arab and Turkish sanctions on Syria, and to look at sending more humanitarian aid to the needy, despite Syrian efforts to block it.
She also called for strengthening the unity of the opposition -- including the leading Syrian National Council -- and promoting their "democratic vision" so that it can "represent an alternative" to the Assad regime.
She has vowed to press the opposition "very hard" to properly represent Arabs, Kurds, Sunni Muslims, Alawites, Christians, Druze and other ethnic and religious groups.
A fourth point she aimed to make is to hold the Syrian leadership and security forces accountable for the abuses that have taken place amid allegations of murder, torture and indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas.
"We want to discuss how to help the Syrian people prepare to hold those responsible who have been committing these terrible acts of violence," Clinton told a press conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.
More than 9,000 people, UN officials estimate, have died since Assad in March last year began crushing pro-democracy protests inspired by revolutions that have swept the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen from power.
It was not clear whether the Syrian opposition would, if they eventually overthrew Assad, hope to put the political and military leaders on trial or have them sent to an international criminal court like the one at The Hague.
In Riyadh, wary Assad could be playing for time, the United States and Gulf Arab monarchies urged Annan to produce a "timeline for next steps" if Assad fails to stop the bloodshed despite his acceptance of the peace plan.
"The Syrian government is staying true to form, unfortunately, making a deal and then refusing to implement it," Clinton said.
"And as of today, regime forces continue to shell civilians, lay siege to neighbourhoods, and even target places of worship," she said.
Annan's plan calls for a commitment to stop all armed violence, a daily two-hour humanitarian ceasefire, media access to all areas affected by the fighting, an inclusive Syrian-led political process, a right to demonstrate, and release of arbitrarily detained people.
Annan was due to brief the UN Security Council on Monday about his efforts to have his peace plan implemented.