US urges change in Syrian rebels" leaders The US called on Wednesday for a complete shake-up of the Syrian opposition leadership, pushing for much greater inclusion of those "on the front lines fighting and dying." Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, said that the Syrian National Council, the exiled leadership group which has been widely criticised for its ineffectiveness, should no longer be considered the "visible leader" of the opposition. IN Middle East & North Africa Speaking in Zagreb, Mrs Clinton said that a meeting in Qatar next week would be used to try to forge a more cohesive opposition leadership that included armed groups operating within Syria. "There has to be representation of those who are on the front lines fighting and dying in Syria today to obtain their freedom," Mrs Clinton told reporters during the visit to Croatia. This cannot be an opposition represented by people who have many good attributes but have in many instances not been inside Syria for 20, 30 or 40 years. Her comments reflect months of growing frustration among Obama administration officials with the SNC, which has been riven with infighting and which has little legitimacy with the groups within Syria that are opposing the regime of Bashar al-Assad. While the US does not decide the outlines of the Syrian opposition, its financial and political backing are an important factor and its frustrations are shared with most of the other governments sympathetic to the Syrian opposition. The US has been working in recent months to broaden its contacts with opposition groups, including bringing some key individuals to meetings at the UN last month. The meeting next week in Qatar will bring together a broad range of different Syrian opposition factions. Mrs Clinton said the US had recommended names of groups and individuals that should be included in the new leadership structure. It is not clear if the Qatar meeting will succeed where previous attempts to create a more unified, representative and credible opposition have failed, however. Mistrust is rife between the regime's divided opponents, and some members of the SNC are thought to be resistant to ceding influence in a larger body. Mrs Clinton also warned that the new leadership would need to publicly renounce the efforts of radical Islamists to take advantage of the civil war in Syria. "There needs to be an opposition leadership structure that is dedicated to representing and protecting all Syrians," she said. We also need an opposition that will be on record strongly resisting the efforts by extremists to hijack the Syrian revolution. Although the Obama administration has been criticised both at home and in the region for its cautious approach to the rebel groups fighting the regime within Syria, officials have consistently warned of the risk that weapons and funds will end up in the hands of groups which are violently opposed to the US.