U.S. Opens Line To Assad Regime

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The U.S. intelligence community has opened a secret
dialogue with members of the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar
Assad.
Western diplomatic sources said the CIA and State Department were
sending messages to middle and senior level members of the Assad
regime. The sources said the messages, sent through relatives and
colleagues, offered regime officials safe haven and stipends to defect or
sabotage Assad's hold on power.