US to join Syrian crisis meeting in Geneva

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russia\'s foreign minister agreed to a Syrian-crisis meeting after Iran and Saudi Arabia were excluded, officials said. The Saturday \"action group\" meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, convened by U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan, is to include the five permanent U.N. Security Council members -- the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China -- Annan\'s office said. Russia and China are Syrian allies. Invitations were sent to Turkey, the U.N. and Arab League secretaries-general and the Iraqi, Kuwaiti and Qatari foreign ministers, who chair Arab League committees concerned with Syria. Iran and Saudi Arabia -- on opposing sides of the Syrian conflict -- were not invited, Annan\'s office said, without giving a reason. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is one of Syrian President Bashar Assad\'s key regional allies. Saudi Arabia backs Syria\'s opposition and has called on Assad to resign and transfer powers to a deputy. The agreement by Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to participate in the Geneva meeting -- after personal appeals by Annan to consider new proposals for a Syrian political transition -- came after Moscow dropped its insistence Iran be invited to the gathering, a senior Obama administration official told The Washington Post. The official did not say whether Washington compromised by agreeing to exclude Saudi Arabia if Moscow conceded on Iran. Washington has steadfastly opposed Iran\'s involvement n the process -- contending Tehran aided and abetted Assad\'s harsh repression in the 16-month-old conflict -- and Clinton said she would not attend if Iran was there. Moscow has accused Saudi Arabia of funding and supplying weapons to Syrian rebels. After Iran was excluded, Clinton said she hoped the meeting would be a \"turning point\" in the international effort to resolve the escalating crisis. Annan said in a statement the group\'s objectives would be to find ways of implementing his peace plan and agreeing \"on guidelines and principles for a Syrian-led political transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people.\" In New York, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Annan would brief Iran after the meeting and \"ensure their continued engagement.\" Iranian U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee told reporters, \"If some powers that be do not want to benefit from [Iran\'s] influence and constructive role, that\'s their problem.\" Clinton and Lavrov are to meet in St. Petersburg, Russia, for a previously scheduled discussion Friday before going to the Annan meeting, officials said. The diplomatic moves came as Syria said rebels stormed a pro-regime TV station in a Damascus suburb, killing seven employees and blowing up the station in a predawn assault. Rebels contradicted the regime account, saying the attackers were defectors from the Syrian army\'s elite Republican Guard, widely considered Assad\'s most loyal core defenders. The attack on the al-Ikhbaria satellite broadcaster began before dawn Wednesday, when assailants \"planted explosive devices\" in the TV station\'s headquarters \"following their ransacking and destroying of the satellite channel studios, including the newsroom studio, which was entirely destroyed,\" the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported. Three journalists and four security workers were killed when the armed men stormed the building in the town of Drousha, about 14 miles south of the capital, Damascus, SANA said. Syrian TV broadcast footage showing extensive damage to the studios. The station remained on the air despite the assault. Free Syrian Army spokesman Col. Malik Kurdi told The New York Times the attack was a result of the defection of a group of Republican Guard members who changed sides and attacked other loyalist guards at the station. There was no way to independently confirm Kurdi\'s claim. The Republican Guard is an armored division used to protect Damascus from domestic threats. It is the only Syrian military unit officially allowed in the capital. If confirmed, his assertion would be another sign of unraveling control in Damascus, the Times said. In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney said, \"We condemn all acts of violence, including those targeting pro-regime elements.\" Amnesty International, which has condemned Syrian regime attacks that have left more than 10,000 dead since the uprising against Assad began early last year, criticized the assault as a \"civilian target\" attack. \"Even a media organization engaged in propaganda is still a civilian object, so it and those working for it must never be deliberately targeted,\" Amnesty said of the privately owned station, which regularly broadcasts programs blaming the uprising on \"terrorists.\" Reporters Without Borders, which advocates freedom of the press and freedom of information, said, \"News organizations should not be used as targets by the parties to the conflict.\" Across Syria, at least 54 other people were killed in fresh violence Wednesday, the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.