U.S. holds talks to end Syrian strife

DUBLIN — Diplomatic efforts to end Syria's civil war moved forward Thursday, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joining Russia's foreign minister and the U.N. peace envoy to the Arab country for extraordinary three-way talks that suggested Washington and Moscow might finally unite behind a strategy as the Assad regime weakens.

In Washington, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said intelligence reports raise fears that an increasingly desperate Syrian President Bashar Assad is considering using his chemical weapons arsenal – which the U.S. and Russia agree is unacceptable.

It was unclear whether he might target rebels within Syria or bordering countries, but growing concern over such a scenario was clearly adding urgency to discussions an ocean away in Ireland's capital.

Meanwhile in Turkey, NATO moved forward Thursday with its plan to place Patriot missiles and troops along Syria's border with Turkey to protect against potential attacks.

The Assad regime blasted the move as "psychological warfare," saying the new deployment would not deter it from seeking victory over rebels it views as terrorists.

The missile deployment sends a clear message to Mr. Assad that consequences will follow if he uses chemical weapons or strikes NATO member Turkey, which backs the rebels seeking his ouster.

But its limited scope also reflects the low appetite in Western capitals for direct military intervention in the civil war.

On the sidelines of a human rights conference in Dublin, Mrs. Clinton gathered with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and mediator Lakhdar Brahimi to look for a strategy the international community could rally around to end Syria's 21-month civil war.

The former Cold War foes have fought bitterly over how to address the conflict, but Mrs. Clinton stressed before the meeting that they shared a common goal.

"We have been trying hard to work with Russia to try to stop the bloodshed in Syria and start a political transition for a post-Assad Syrian future," Mrs. Clinton told reporters in Dublin.

"Events on the ground in Syria are accelerating and we see that in many different ways," she said. "The pressure against the regime in and around Damascus seems to be increasing. We've made it very clear what our position is with respect to chemical weapons, and I think we will discuss that and many other aspects of what is needed to end the violence."

Earlier Thursday, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Lavrov met separately for about 25 minutes. They agreed to hear Mr. Brahimi out on a path forward, a senior U.S. official said.

The two also discussed issues ranging from Egypt to North Korea, as well as new congressional action aimed at Russian officials accused of complicity in the 2009 death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky while in police custody.

Washington and Moscow have more often publicly chastised each other than cooperated on an international strategy for Syria.

The U.S. has criticized Russia for shielding its Arab ally. The Russians have accused the U.S. of meddling by demanding Mr. Assad's downfall and ultimately seeking an armed intervention such as the one last year against the late Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

But the gathering of the three key international figures suggests possible compromise in the offing.

At a minimum, it confirms what officials describe as an easing of some of the acrimony that has raged between Moscow and Washington over the future of Syria, an ethnically diverse nation whose stability is critical given its geographic position in between powder kegs Iraq, Lebanon and Israel.

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