Newsvine - Nation & World | U.S. plans for Syria without Assad | Seattle Times Newspaper

Newsvine - Nation & World | U.S. plans for Syria without Assad | Seattle Times Newspaper

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U.S. plans for Syria without Assad

By HELENE COOPER

The New York Times

A girl holds out her hands with Arabic writing that reads "Hama is bleeding" at a protest Saturday in front of the Russian embassy in Amman, Jordan.
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MOHAMMAD HANNON / AP

A girl holds out her hands with Arabic writing that reads "Hama is bleeding" at a protest Saturday in front of the Russian embassy in Amman, Jordan.

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Seattle Times news services
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WASHINGTON — Increasingly convinced that President Bashar Assad of Syria will not be able to remain in power, the Obama administration has begun to make plans for U.S. policy in the region after he exits.

In coordination with Turkey, the United States has been exploring how to deal with the possibility of a civil war among Syria's Alawite, Druze, Christian and Sunni sects, a conflict that could quickly ignite other tensions in a volatile region.

While other countries have withdrawn their ambassadors from Damascus, Obama administration officials say they are leaving in place the U.S. ambassador, Robert Ford, despite the risks, so he can maintain contact with opposition leaders and the leaders of the country's myriad sects and religious groups.
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