US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Saudi Arabia Tuesday for talks with the country's leadership. The Syrian conflict is top of the agenda, as both parties look to find a solution to the 27 month-old uprising that has drawn in regional players and sharpened sectarian divisions in the Middle East.
Kerry will meet with Saudi leaders in Jeddah to discuss ways to strengthen the Syrian opposition who remain locked in a bloody stalemate with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
Whilst Washington remains cautious about deeper involvement in the conflict, US President Barack Obama recently made his first public announcement that they would arm rebel forces, citing evidence that Assad's side had used chemical weapons against the Syrian people.
"If the United States does nothing, and the rest of the world does nothing, then Syria is going to wind up in an even worse condition than it is today," Kerry told CBS News in New Delhi.
A worse scenario in Syria could include "a total breakup, with radicals, extremists able to get a hold of chemical weapons and free to use it as a base to begin to conduct their operations again against the West and the United States," Kerry said.
A longstanding American ally, Saudi Arabia has recently stepped up its co-ordination with Syrian opposition forces, taking over from Qatar, accroding to Dubai-based newspaper The National.
At least 93,000 Syrians have died since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011, according to the latest figures published by the UN.
