"...Saudi rancour towards Syria's Bashar al-Assad may be blinding Riyadh..."

Reuters, here

"....diplomats and analysts say....They also say that Saudi rancour towards Syria and its president Bashar al-Assad may be blinding Riyadh to the possibilities of dialogue with Damascus.
A U.S. official said this month Washington is assessing its policy of trying to isolate Syria. The review in U.S. policy follows a recent rapprochement between France and Syria, with President Nicolas Sarkozy visiting Damascus last month. He said Arab and foreign governments had "underestimated" Assad, an eye doctor who was plucked from relative obscurity in London to succeed his father Hafez al-Assad died in 2000...."