John Kerry in Abu Dhabi for talks on Syria peace plan

Abu Dhabi - US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Abu Dhabi on Monday to meet his Emirati counterparts on efforts to build a Syrian opposition coalition to lead peace talks with the Damascus regime.

Kerry has scheduled meetings with His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Minister and Chairman of National Media Council. 
US officials said he also hoped to meet Saudi officials. 
The American envoy is spearheading international efforts to halt Syria's four-and-half-year civil war by putting opposition and rebel factions around a table with Bashar Al Assad's government. 
Major powers with an interest in the conflict have set an ambitious target date of January 1 for talks and a ceasefire to begin, but the participants have yet to be identified. 
The hope is that if a broad enough "moderate" opposition coalition can enter a ceasefire and peace negotiations with Assad's loyalists, a path to a political transition an be found. 
Meanwhile, the various local and international armies who have been drawn into the conflict will be able to focus their fire on the hardline extremists like Daesh. 
Monday's one-day stopover in Abu Dhabi is the first leg of a Middle East tour that will also take Kerry to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Tuesday for talks on an upsurge of violence there.