ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland — The world’s leaders will descend on a secluded golf resort in Northern Ireland on Monday for the G8 summit. Minutes away sits Enniskillen, a small town with a painful past.

Less than 10 miles from the border with Ireland, this town was one of the key flashpoints during the so-called Troubles, the sectarian violence that consumed Northern Ireland for more than three decades.

Enniskillen is so steeped in tragedy and violence that British Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged it would have been “unthinkable” even a decade ago that it would be at the center of the world stage.

One crisp November morning in 1987, militants belonging to the Irish Republican Army bombed the town's annual memorial ceremony for British war veterans. The attack killed 11 people and injured 63.

Stephen Gault remembers that day clearly. He is now 43 years old, just six years younger than his father was on the day he was killed.

“I remember being knocked unconscious for about 30 seconds — coming round, eery silence, dust everywhere,” recalled Gault. “The only thing I could hear was the distant ringing of a shop alarm and then all of a sudden, as if you flicked on a switch, it was like a war movie. Everything just erupted, pandemonium, people screaming, people lying dead beside me.”

The atrocity has made Enniskillen a highly symbolic place, despite its prior proud history – writers Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett attended a local school.

The Queen made history there last year – the 25th anniversary of the bombing — when she walked across the town’s narrow high street between the Protestant and Catholic churches which face one another. It was the first time the Queen had ever set foot in a Catholic church on the island of Ireland.

PA via AP, file

The Cenotaph in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, with the devastated community centre in the background after it was hit by an IRA bomb, is seen in this November 11, 1987 file photo.

And on the site of the bomb now stands the Clinton Centre – an cross-community educational facility inaugurated and visited many times by President Bill Clinton.

“People who thought at the time of the Enniskillen bomb in 1987 that it would drive a wedge between the Catholics and the Protestants,” reflects Gault. “But if anything it worked the opposite way, it brought the two communities closer together.”

Fifteen years after the landmark 1998 peace agreement, Northern Ireland’s affairs have dramatically changed — but there is still room for progress.

PhotoBlog: Derelict Northern Ireland shops get facelift ahead of G8 summit

“I think there's been a massive transformation,” says Sean Murray, a former IRA prisoner and current Sinn Fein activist. “That’s not to say there are no contentious issues left.”

Standing at one of Belfast’s imposing "peace walls" — erected during the conflict to separate nationalist and unionist communities — Murray says that there is still a fear of violence on each side.

“There’s intermittent violence at this peace wall. It's low level: it's stones, it's bottles, but it's still violence and it still interrupts people's lives.”

Tensions have begun to rise again. In January, Belfast saw riots with over plans to stop flying the British flag over the city hall. Last summer, Catholic youths fought running battles with police.

Then there are those who continue to claim there is a war over what they call the British ‘occupation’ of Northern Ireland.

John Connolly was convicted for possession of a mortar bomb in 2000. “That device consisted of 250 pounds of homemade explosives,” Connolly told NBC News last week. “I was apprehended, caught along with my two comrades going to carry out an attack on a military base in Fermanagh.”

Paul Mcerlane / Reuters, file

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton meets local people during a visit to Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, June 5, 2002. He was opening a peace center in the town where an IRA bomb killed 11 people in 1987.

Connolly said he is no longer a member of any militant group, and does not speak on their behalf. But he said the sectarian war is far from over.

“I don’t believe there is a peace process,” Connolly said. “It’s dead and buried at the minute.”

Security sources estimate the number of IRA "dissidents" who aim to continue the armed campaign number only a few hundred. And  while the dissident attacks are often foiled, the fact that there are even attempts exist worries many.

In March last year, 25-year-old policeman Ronan Kerr was killed outside his own house, and in 2009 two British soldiers were killed as they accepted a pizza delivery outside their barracks in County Antrim.

“There will always be those who would take up arms against a foreign occupation,” Connolly insists. “Will I condemn them? No I won’t.”

One fear is that Protestant terrorist groups, like the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), might get pulled into increased violence.

William Smith, a former UVF prisoner and current unionist political activist committed to peace, agrees that while huge progress has been made, now is not the time for complacence.

“There's been massive progress in Northern Ireland,” Smith says. “But it’s still a work in progress. You just can't just walk away and say, 'Well there's a peace center now and that's it' — or there's a danger of slipping back.”

NBC’s Sarah Burke and Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.

Updated at 8:20 a.m. ET: The Syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own people and is awaiting final orders from President Bashar Assad, U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday.

The military has loaded the precursor chemicals for sarin, a deadly nerve gas, into aerial bombs that could be dropped onto the Syrian people from dozens of fighter-bombers, the officials said. 

As recently as Tuesday, officials had said there was as yet no evidence that the process of mixing the "precursor" chemicals had begun. But Wednesday, they said their worst fears had been confirmed: The nerve agents were locked and loaded inside the bombs.

Sarin is an extraordinarily lethal agent. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's forces killed 5,000 Kurds with a single sarin attack on Halabja in 1988.

U.S. officials stressed that as of now, the sarin bombs hadn't been loaded onto planes and that Assad hadn't issued a final order to use them. But if he does, one of the officials said, "there's little the outside world can do to stop it."

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reiterated U.S. warnings to Assad not to use chemical weapons, saying he would be crossing "a red line" if he did so.

Speaking Wednesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Clinton said the Syrian government was on the brink of collapse, raising the prospect that "an increasingly desperate Assad regime" might turn to chemical weapons or that the banned weapons could fall into other hands.

"Ultimately, what we should be thinking about is a political transition in Syria and one that should start as soon as possible," Clinton said. "We believe their fall is inevitable. It is just a question of how many people have to die before that occurs."

Aides told NBC News that Clinton was expected next week to officially recognize the main opposition movement, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, with which she is scheduled to meet in Morocco. Britain, France, Turkey and some key Arab leaders have already recognized the opposition.

Fighting intensified Wednesday in the 21-month civil war, which has left 40,000 people dead. The U.N. withdrew its personnel from Damascus, saying conditions were too dangerous.

Kevin Lamarque / AFP - Getty Images

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking Wednesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels, said the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government was "inevitable."

The government said this week that it wouldn't use chemical weapons on its own people after President Barack Obama warned that doing so would be "totally unacceptable."

But U.S. officials said this week that the government had ordered its Chemical Weapons Corps to "be prepared," which Washington interpreted as a directive to begin bringing together the components needed to weaponize Syria's chemical stockpiles.

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U.S. officials had long believed that the Syrian government was stockpiling the banned chemical weapons before it acknowledged possessing them this summer.

NBC News reported in July that U.S. intelligence agencies believed that in addition to sarin, Syria had access to tabun, a chemical nerve agent, as well as traditional chemical weapons like mustard gas and hydrogen cyanide.

Officials told NBC News at the time that the Syrian government was moving the outlawed weapons around the country, leaving foreign intelligence agencies unsure where they might end up.

Syria is one of only seven nations that hasn't ratified the 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention, the arms control agreement that outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of such weapons.

Bombshells filled with chemicals can be carried by Syrian Air Force fighter-bombers, in particular Sukhoi-22/20, MiG-23 and Sukhoi-24 aircraft. In addition, some reports indicate that unguided short-range Frog-7 artillery rockets may be capable of carrying chemical payloads.

In terms of longer-range delivery systems, Syria has a few dozen SS-21 ballistic missiles with a maximum range of 72 miles; 200 Scud-Bs, with a maximum range of 180 miles; and 60 to 120 Scud-Cs, with a maximum range of 300 miles, all of which are mobile and are capable of carrying chemical weapons, according U.S. intelligence officials.

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Updated at 1:35 p.m. ET: NATO foreign ministers on Tuesday gave the go-ahead to deploy Patriot surface-to-missiles in Turkey in order to protect from any spillover from the civil war in neighboring Turkey.

"We stand with Turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity and we stand ready to take the necessary steps for the defense of Turkey," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said after the decision.

The move could calm Turkey's fears that it could come under missile attack - possibly with chemical weapons - from Syria. 

"The NATO ministers unanimously expressed grave concern about reports that the Syrian regime may be considering the use of chemical weapons," Rasmussen told a news conference. "Any such action would be completely unacceptable and a clear breach of international law."

The 28-nation alliance gathered in Brussels for a twice-yearly meeting, sending a strong signal that it stands behind Turkey, a NATO member, diplomats told Reuters.

"NATO has decided to augment Turkey's air defense capabilities in order to defend the population and territory of Turkey and contribute to the de-escalation of the crisis along the Alliance's border," a statement from NATO foreign ministers on Tuesday said.

Turkey asked NATO last month for Patriots, which can be used to intercept missiles and planes, after weeks of talks with allies about how to increase security on its 560-mile border with Syria, which is immersed in civil war.

The move follows media reports, citing European and U.S. officials, that Syria's chemical weapons had been moved and could be prepared for use in response to dramatic gains by rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.

Obama warns Syria's Assad not to use chemical weapons

Syria said on Monday it would not use chemical weapons against its own people after the United States warned it could take action against any such escalation.

"Turkey's request, when it came to Patriots, was to augment its air defenses with the capacity to deal with the threat of ballistic missiles and particularly the threat of ballistic missiles potentially armed with chemical warheads," another NATO diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, according to Reuters.

Slideshow: Syria uprising

Osman Orsal / Reuters

A look back at the violence that has overtaken the country

Launch slideshow

The United States, Germany and the Netherlands are the countries expected to supply Turkey with Patriots. Germany and the Netherlands may need parliamentary approval to send the missiles and deployment could take weeks.

Report: Syrian rebels clash with Lebanon troops on border

The first diplomat said that NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. Admiral James Stavridis, had the power to deploy NATO's own fleet of AWACS surveillance planes if he judged it necessary to counter a specific threat and would not need ministerial approval.

However, there is no immediate plan for him to do so in the case of Turkey.

PhotoBlog: Turkey scrambles jets as Syrian government forces bomb border town

Turkey has repeatedly scrambled jets along the countries' joint border and responded in kind when shells from the conflict came down inside its borders, underlining fears Syria's civil war could spread to destabilize the region.

A senior State Department official accompanying Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Europe for the NATO talks, said he did not expect final details this week on the number of missiles that would be deployed, where or for how long.

He said the deployment would not be part of "an inexorable move towards a no-fly zone" over Syria, of the sort NATO mounted to defend anti-government rebels in Libya who toppled Moammar Gadhafi last year.

The Patriot system, according to chief contractor Raytheon, is the world's most advanced missile defense system, capable of shooting down aircraft, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones. Its first test came in the 1991 Gulf War and has been upgraded many times since. It is currently deployed in the U.S., Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Taiwan, Greece, Spain, Korea and the United Arab Emirates. 

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Updated at 4:50 p.m. ET: Following her arrival in Israel, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated at a press conference Tuesday that America's commitment to Israel's security is "rock solid," adding that "the goal must be a durable outcome that promotes regional stability and advances the security and legitimate aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians alike."

"The rocket attacks from terrorist organizations inside Gaza on Israeli cities and towns must end, and a broader calm restored," Clinton said, adding that there are no substitutes for security and a just and lasting peace.

Speaking in Jerusalem, Clinton also offered her condolences for those lost in the violence.

"Our hearts break for the loss of every civilian, Israeli and Palestinian, and for all those who have been wounded and are living in fear and danger," she said, adding that she would work with Israel and Egypt on brokering a truce in Gaza "in the days ahead."

Israel is prepared to escalate its offensive but would prefer a long-term diplomatic solution, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

"If there is a possibility of achieving a long-term solution to this problem with diplomatic means, we prefer that," he said in a public statement alongside Clinton.

"But if not, I'm sure you understand that Israel will have to take whatever action is necessary to defend its people."

Earlier, a Hamas official said a truce with Israel would not be reached Tuesday because the Israeli government had yet to respond to proposals.

"The Israeli side has not responded yet, so we will not hold a (news) conference this evening and must wait until tomorrow," Ezzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas leader, told Reuters. "The truce is now held up because we are waiting for the Israeli side to respond," he added in a short telephone interview.

Clinton landed at 9:51 p.m. local time in Tel Aviv, where she met with Netanyahu. Later, Clinton will meet with the President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah before heading to Cairo.

A U.S. official stressed to NBC News that Clinton would not meet with representatives of Hamas, the Islamist organization that controls the Gaza Strip, largely because of its failure to renounce terrorism and recognize Israel's right to exist.

Egyptian officials said talks are ongoing to reach a truce in Gaza, although any agreement appears unlikely to address the long-term areas of disagreement between Israel and the Hamas leaders of the Gaza Strip, NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reported Tuesday.

The expected "cessation of hostilities" will call on all parties to use maximum restraint, according to one former intelligence official familiar with the talks.

Slideshow: Israel, Gaza violence escalates

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Two sides exchange deadly airstrikes, rocket attacks.

Launch slideshow

Earlier Tuesday, President Barack Obama spoke to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who is seeking to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. 

According to White House officials, Obama spoke to Morsi for the third time in 24 hours. Deputy National Security adviser Ben Rhodes said Obama wanted to talk to Morsi before Clinton's arrival in Israel.

Rhodes said Obama underscored the importance of Morsi working toward a de-escalation to the conflict in Gaza. He also commended Morsi's efforts to pursue a de-escalation and acknowledged Egypt's important role in the region's security.

Rhodes said Obama emphasized the importance of a diplomatic solution, but said that rocket fire from Gaza into Israel must stop.

Israel Defense Forces continued airstrikes overnight, and also said 39 rockets fired from Gaza hit Israel Tuesday in a message on its Twitter account.

Since Israel launched its military campaign seven days ago in response to rocket fire, more than 100 people in Gaza and three people in Israel have been killed.

Internationally, the main focus was on stopping the violence, and Morsi hinted at a possible breakthrough Tuesday.

Speaking at his sister's funeral in Egypt, Morsi said the "aggression on Gaza" would end Tuesday. He made the apparently off-the-cuff comments in front of mourners who had come to pay their respects, but did not elaborate. Several journalists traveling with Morsi confirmed he made the remark.

'Army must invade': In southern Israel, support grows for action in Gaza

In Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israel would be a “willing partner” in a cease-fire, but also issued a warning.

He said if further military action proved necessary “to stop the constant barrage of rockets, Israel will not hesitate to do what is necessary to defend our people.”

And Mohammed Deif, the new leader of Hamas' military wing, sounded a defiant note, saying that the movement was ready to fight and would not back down from its efforts to liberate Palestine.

He was speaking in his first audio recording since the group’s previous top military commander, Ahmed Jabari, was killed in an Israeli airstrike Wednesday. Deif, who has survived several assassination attempts in the past, called for Hamas’ supporters to remain steadfast. 

We are very scared': Egyptians fear being mired in Gaza-Israel crisis

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'Difficult' situation

It is unclear how much influence Clinton can have on the situation.

“She is going to go out there to be in the region to have direct, face-to-face discussions with those leaders,” Rhodes said. “I don’t want to predict exactly what the outcome of those discussions will be. We all know how difficult this situation is.” 

The White House thinks the leaders who are heavily involved in the region “understand what the best outcome is,” Rhodes added, but that a peaceful goal is only achievable “if Hamas takes action to stop what they’ve been doing.”

An Israeli soldier and a civilian died when rockets exploded near the Gaza frontier, police and the army said.

An Israeli air strike on two cars in the Gaza Strip killed six Palestinians Tuesday, while two children died in an attack in the north of the territory, local residents and medics told Reuters. 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Tuesday for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and said a threatened Israeli ground operation in the Palestinian enclave would be a “dangerous escalation” that must be avoided.

Later, standing alongside Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Ban urged Israel to show "maximum restraint" and condemned rocket attacks on Israel.

Also Tuesday, Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby and the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia and Sudan traveled from Egypt to Gaza in an unprecedented move designed to show solidarity with the Palestinians, NBC News reported.

US Embassy guard wounded
Meanwhile, a man was arrested after he stabbed a security guard Tuesday at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, a police spokesman told Reuters. 

The spokesman said the guard opened fire during the attack.

Israel Radio said the attacker, who police said was armed with a knife and an ax, was wounded. 

Oded Balilty / AP

Israeli police officers detain a man who attacked a security guard at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday.

NBC's Shawna Thomas, Ayman Mohyeldin and Ian Johnston, and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Members of Syria's opposition-in-exile bristled Thursday at the Obama administration's suggestion that Washington will handpick more representative leaders at a crucial conference in Qatar next week.

The new U.S. push appears aimed at creating a unified leadership that could work more closely with the West. But there are signs of resistance among deeply fractured opposition groups wary of attempts by foreign backers to dictate strategy in the civil war against President Bashar Assad.

"This direct tutelage and these dictates are not acceptable to the Syrian people anymore," Zuhair Salem, the London-based spokesman for Syria's banned Muslim Brotherhood opposition group, told The Associated Press. The Brotherhood is part of the main political opposition group, the Syrian National Council, which is dominated by exiles.

Syrians and the U.S. administration have grown increasingly frustrated as the opposition proved unwilling or unable to coalesce. The U.S. and its allies have long bemoaned the lack of a cohesive leadership, and there is little doubt that this has held back more robust foreign aid and involvement to bolster the opposition in its fight.

With the battle for control of Syria almost certainly to be decided on the battlefield, the political opposition led by exiles is being further sidelined.

Syria warplanes pound rebel strongholds

On Wednesday, the Obama administration said it would push for a major shakeup in the opposition leadership so that it better represents the fighters risking their lives on the frontlines. At least 36,000 people have been killed since the uprising began 19 months ago, according to anti-regime activists.

It was a signal that Syria's political opposition is increasingly irrelevant, as it's become clearer that the conflict will be decided by fighters.

In the latest violence, anti-government rebels killed 28 soldiers on Thursday in attacks on three army checkpoints around Saraqeb, a town on Syria's main north-south highway, a monitoring group said.

Some of the dead were shot after they had surrendered, according to video footage. Rebels berated them, calling them "Assad's Dogs," before firing round after round into their bodies as they lay on the ground.

The highway linking the capital Damascus to the contested city of Aleppo, Syria's commercial center, has been the scene of heavy fighting since rebels cut the road last month. Saraqeb lies just south of Aleppo.

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‘Own agendas’
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the administration was suggesting names and organizations that should feature prominently in any new rebel leadership that is to emerge from a four-day conference starting Sunday in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

The U.S. said a revamped leadership could rally wider international support and help buffer against attempts by extremists among the rebels to hijack the uprising.

Syrian opposition figures have called on the U.S. and other Western supporters to provide the rebels with strategic weapons, such as anti-aircraft missiles, to counter the Assad regime's military superiority and help the rebels break the battlefield stalemate. However, the U.S. has been cool to the idea. It fears that such weapons could fall into the hands of radical Islamists fighting on the rebel side who might one day use them against the U.S. and its allies.

The SNC is widely seen as ineffective and cut off from those fighting on the ground. It has been plagued by infighting and defections. Still Clinton's portrayal of the SNC leadership as out-of-touch exiles kicked up a storm of disapproval inside and outside Syria.

Salem said Clinton's remarks show the U.S. wishes to "tailor the Syrian opposition to specific demands."

The U.S is pushing for a greater role for the rebel Free Syrian Army, the main fighting force on the ground, among other groups. However, the FSA and the Syria-based National Coordination Body, made up of veteran opposition figures, appear skeptical that the disparate opposition groups can fit under one umbrella.

Air raids, car bomb hit Damascus on last day of failed truce

Faiz Amru, a Syrian army general who defected earlier this year, said any transitional government or body created abroad cannot possibly represent those dying in Syria.

"Everyone is trying to push their own agendas," he said dejectedly by phone from the Turkish Syrian border. "The big powers have hijacked the Syrian revolution."

Amru said he does not support any opposition group, saying that none of them care about fighters on the ground.

The U.S. administration responded to the criticism by saying it was not issuing dictates.

Car bomb in Damascus shatters feeble Syria cease-fire

"We're not giving them a list," said State Department spokesman Mark Toner. "Ultimately it's up to the Syrians themselves to make those choices. This is in no way telling them what to do."

But Clinton's remarks were seen as damaging by opposition leaders and ordinary Syrians long wary of U.S. meddling in the region. The opposition has been increasingly frustrated by what it perceives as the lack of a coherent U.S. plan to help the rebels.

Muhydin Lazikani, a London-based writer and SNC member, said Clinton had no business criticizing the SNC at a time when the Obama administration has not charted a path for Syria.

"All they try to do is blame the SNC," said Lazikani.

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Mohammad Sarmini, a Turkey-based SNC spokesman, said the U.S., through this new push, is "trying to make up for its shortcomings and impotence to stop the killings and massacres in Syria."

Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Doha Center was also critical of the U.S. approach.

"The U.S. does not seem to have a real end game here," he said. "Where does this lead? What happens after you have a unified opposition? It will still have to be fought out between armed groups."

The shift in the U.S. position came after months of fruitless attempts by the Obama administration and its allies to cajole the notoriously fractious SNC to broaden its base, according to two American officials.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Hussam Shebaro / Reuters

A Sunni Muslim gunman with a weapon rides a motorcycle through the streets of Kaskas in Beirut, Monday, after a night of tension.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pledged to help Lebanon investigate Friday's deadly car bombing in Beirut, as parts of the city were engulfed in violence that some observers say heralds the spread of civil war from neighboring Syria. 

She spoke with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Sunday to reiterate U.S. condemnation of the attack - which killed intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan - calling it "heinous", State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.

"The secretary emphasized the United States' firm commitment to Lebanon's stability, independence, sovereignty and security," Nuland said in a statement.

PhotoBlog: Tension on Beirut streets as political crisis deepens

"She noted the importance of political leaders working together at this sensitive time to ensure that calm prevails and that those responsible for the attack are brought to justice,” the statement said.

Nuland said Clinton and Mikati agreed that the United States "would provide assistance in the investigation of the bombing."

Syria blamed by Lebanese opposition
Opposition leaders and their supporters accuse Syria of being behind Friday's attack, and say Mikati is too close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese ally Hezbollah, which is part of Mikati's government.

Thousands turned out Sunday in downtown Beirut's Martyrs' Square for Hassan's funeral, which also served as a political rally. Violence erupted after an opposition leader demanded that Mikati step down to pave the way for talks on the crisis.

"The Syrian regime started a war against us and we will fight this battle until the end," said Anthony Labaki, a 24-year-old physiotherapist.

Slideshow: Bombing in Beirut

Mahmoud Zayyat / AFP - Getty Images

Huge blast explodes in a central Beirut street injures dozens, kills at least eight.

Launch slideshow

Sunday's clashes fed into a growing political crisis in Lebanon linked to the conflict in neighboring Syria. Israeli news site Haaretz reported that the clashes "raised the specter of the nation once again becoming torn apart by civil war."

A group marched to the prime minister's office, then overturned barriers, pulled apart barbed wire coils and threw steel rods, stones and bottle at soldiers and police.

Security forces responded by shooting into air and firing teargas, forcing the protesters to scatter.

"Lebanon is in the eye of the storm," said Fawaz A. Gerges, head of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics. "The fact that the protesters came close to storming the parliament shows how deep the crisis of the state is and how weak the leadership has become."

Fire exchanged in southern Beirut
On Sunday night, gunmen armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades exchanged fire in southern districts of Beirut, security sources told Reuters, and residents could hear the sound of ambulance sirens.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from the clashes in the capital, but in the northern city of Tripoli a 9-year-old girl was killed by a sniper and several people were wounded in clashes.

PhotoBlog: Violence erupts in Beirut after slain official's funeral

Gunmen have been patrolling the streets in Tripoli, scene of previous clashes between Sunnis and Alawites sympathetic to different sides in the Syria war.

Opposition leader Saad al-Hariri urged supporters to refrain from any more violence.

"We want peace, the government should fall but we want that in a peaceful way. I call on all those who are in the streets to pull back," Hariri said on the Future Television channel.

Sectarian tensions
Sunday's events highlighted how the 19-month-old uprising against Assad has sharpened deep-seated sectarian tensions in Lebanon, which is still scarred from its 1975-90 civil war.

Sunni-led rebels are fighting to overthrow Assad, who is from the Alawite minority, which has its roots in Shiite Islam. Lebanon's religious communities are divided between those that support Assad and those that back the rebels.

Hassan, 47, was a senior intelligence official who had helped uncover a bomb plot that led to the arrest and indictment in August of a pro-Assad former Lebanese minister.

A Sunni Muslim, he also led an investigation that implicated Syria and the Shiite Hezbollah in the 2005 assassination of Rafik al-Hariri, a former prime minister of Lebanon.

Damascus and Hezbollah have condemned Hassan's killing.

But mourners at Martyrs' Square on Sunday accused Syria of involvement and called for Mikati to quit. One banner read "Go, go Najib" echoing the slogans of the Arab Spring.

"We came for Lebanon's future," said mourner Rama Fakhouri, an interior designer. "And to show that we will not be scared."

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Yuri Gripas / REUTERS

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivers a keynote address on "U.S. Strategic Engagement with North Africa in an Era of Change" at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington on Friday.

A month after the terrorist attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reaffirmed the United States' support for the new governments emerging from the Arab Spring.

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Friday, Clinton said the attack in Benghazi and the burning of the American School in Tunis have led some to question the promise and hope of the Arab Spring. She said she has always been clear-eyed about the challenges that were ahead.  

"Let me start by stating the obvious: Nobody should have ever thought this would be an easy road. I certainly didn't," Clinton said. 

Romney: Biden 'doubling down on denial' in explanation of Libya response

She went on to say that the United States "will not pull back our support for emerging democracies when the going gets rough. That would be a costly strategic mistake that would, I believe, undermine both our interests and our values."   

Clinton described what occurred on Sept. 11 in Benghazi as a “terrorist attack” and said she appointed a review board to examine the security procedures in Benghazi. The U.S. government is "sparing no effort" to track down the terrorists responsible for the attack, Clinton said.

The terrorists who attacked the mission do not represent the Libyan people, she added, citing the protests against the militias there.

"The United States will not retreat," Clinton said. "We will keep leading and we will stay engaged in the Maghreb and everywhere in the world, including in those hard places where America’s interests and values are at stake."

The United States is "stepping up" its counterterrorism efforts in northern Mali, Clinton said, where al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is trying to expand its reach. 

"For some time, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and other terrorist groups have launched attacks and kidnappings from northern Mali into neighboring countries. Now, with the chaos and ethnic conflict there allowing these groups to carve out a larger safe haven, they are seeking to extend their reach and their networks in multiple directions," she said.

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EPA file

U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, who was killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, during an event in Tripoli, Libya, Sept. 12.

Documents including the full itinerary of Ambassador Christopher Stevens’s trip to Benghazi, Libya and the personnel records of Libyans employed to secure the U.S. official's mission were left behind at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, The Washington Post reported exclusively. 

A reporter who visited the looted compound Wednesday found the sensitive documents strewn across the floor, The Post said. The State Department did not ask The Post to withhold the documents from publication.

The discovery comes almost four weeks after an attack on the U.S. consulate took the lives of Stevens, as well as information management officer Sean Smith and security personnel Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.

According to The Post, many other documents have likely disappeared from the compound, which is now guarded by two private security guards paid for by the compound’s Libyan owner.

FBI agents keep out of Benghazi

“Securing the site has obviously been a challenge,” Mark Toner, deputy spokesman at the State Department, told The Post when asked about conditions at the Benghazi consulate. “We had to evacuate all U.S. government personnel the night of the attack.  After the attack, we requested help securing the site, and we continue to work with the Libyan government on this front.”

One of the documents found by The Post shows Stevens and his staff were discussing the possibility of an attack in early September, two days before the assault took place. According to The Post, the memo was detailing plans for a “quick reaction force,” or QRF, to ensure the security of the mission.

“In the event of an attack on the U.S. Mission,” the document states, “QRF will request additional support from the 17th February Martyrs Brigade.”

Security on the compound appears to have been bare-bones, The Post suggests, pointing to a statement in the memo requiring guards “to acquire and maintain their own weapons and ammunition." The memo also suggests the Americans were not confident the protection from the guards would be sufficient in case of an emergency, The Post said.

Libyan president to NBC: Anti-Islam film had 'nothing to do with' US Consulate attack

Several copies of Stevens' Benghazi trip itinerary were scattered across the floor, the newspaper reported. The document included all of the envoy's planned movements during a visit that was supposed to last from Sept. 10 until Sept. 15.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday vowed to pursue a full accounting of the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi "wherever that leads," but cautioned that it could take time for a complete picture to emerge.

"There are continuing questions about what exactly happened in Benghazi on that night three weeks ago. And we will not rest until we answer those questions and until we track down the terrorists who killed our people," Clinton said in an appearance with Kazakhstan's visiting foreign minister.

Ambassador Rice: Benghazi attack began spontaneously

"The men and women who serve this country as diplomats deserve no less than a full and accurate accounting, wherever that leads, and I am committed to seeking that for them and for those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation."

Clinton's comments followed a demand by two Republican lawmakers this week for more information about the September 11 attack, which they said occurred after Washington repeatedly turned down requests from Americans in Libya for more security at the Benghazi consulate.

U.S. Representatives Darrell Issa and Jason Chaffetz also said that the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold an Oct. 10 hearing on the security situation leading up to the Benghazi attack.

White House: Libya consulate siege that killed four was 'terrorist attack'

Reuters reported on Tuesday that the U.S. government received about a dozen intelligence reports within hours of the attack suggesting involvement by organized militant groups. Despite that, the Obama administration for nearly two weeks emphasized the role of the anti-Muslim video.

Clinton noted that the State Department had named an "accountability review board" to investigate attack, and that she had urged the group "to move as quickly as possible without sacrificing accuracy."

"I am aware too that many people are eager for answers. So am I ... and no one wants the answers more than we do here at the department," Clinton said.

"Over the course of this review, there will naturally be a number of statements made, some of which will be borne out and some of which will not. So let's establish all the facts before we jump to any conclusions and let's do so that we can get to the bottom of what did happen," she said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Updated at 5:40 p.m. ET: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, National Intelligence Director James Clapper and other top diplomatic and security officials will huddle this week with lawmakers for a closed-door meeting on growing anti-U.S. violence in the Middle East and northern Africa, officials told NBC News on Tuesday.

The classified briefing was put together for House members after al-Qaida in the Maghreb, the North African branch of the terrorist group, published a call for followers to launch attacks on U.S. embassies and to kill U.S. diplomats.

The statement appeared to have been published Saturday, but it didn't come to widespread Western attention until Tuesday, when the Middle East monitoring service IntelCenter alerted its clients to the threat's appearance on a militant website. It called for attacks on U.S. interests around the world, but especially in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania.

The statement called the assassination last week of Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, a "gift" that would "bring the Americans to the path of salvation and stop their war against Muslims."

Stevens was killed in a raid on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, along with three consulate staff members.

Clinton didn't mention the briefing in remarks to reporters in Mexico City, where she is holding talks with Mexican leaders on drug-interdiction strategies, but she said: "We are taking aggressive steps to protect our people and our consulates and embassies around the world.

"We are reviewing our security posture at every post and working with host governments to be sure they know what our security needs are wherever necessary," she said. "I think that it is important at this moment for leaders to put themselves on the right side of this debate — to speak out clearly and unequivocally against violence, whoever incites it or conducts it "

Egypt issues arrest warrant for Terry Jones over video

The rise in violence has coincided with anger in the Muslim world after the publication on YouTube of a short trailer for an unreleased movie called "Innocence of Muslims," which depicts the Prophet Muhammad as a gay, wife-beating child abuser. At least 28 deaths — including those of Stevens and the three other Americans last week — have been attributed to riots and violence in at least 20 countries in reaction to the video.

In Afghanistan, NATO forces enacted tighter security measures Tuesday after rioters attacked police on a road to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and a suicide bomber blew up a bus near the Kabul airport, killing 12 foreign workers in an attack that Islamist militants said was in retaliation for the blasphemous video.

Col. Thomas Collins, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force, the NATO-led contingent overseeing security in Afghanistan, told NBC News that the measures would put a temporary halt to joint operations with Afghan forces unless they were approved by a regional commander at the level of a general.

"We did a very thorough assessment," Collins said. "We looked at where we are right now with this video being out and some heightened tensions.

"We just thought it would be smartest on a temporary basis to reduce the amount of exposure of our troops in certain areas," he said.

More than 50 international troops have been killed this year in so-called green-on-blue attacks carried out by Afghan forces or militants disguised in Afghan uniforms.

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Reuters, file

Jalaluddin Haqqani (R), the Taliban's minister for tribal affairs, points to a map of Afghanistan while his son Naziruddin looks on in Islamabad in October, 2001. The Haqqani insurgent group is named after its patriarch and founder Jalaluddin Haqqani, who was a legendary anti-Soviet mujahideen commander in the 1980s. Back then he was admired by the Americans.

Senior members of the Haqqani network said that the United States' designation of the militant group as terrorists could endanger the life of an American soldier thought to be in their custody and jeopardize peace talks.

"The Obama administration and U.S. military commanders know that their soldier Bowe Bergdahl is in our possession," a Haqqani commander told NBC News in a telephone interview from an undisclosed location on Friday.  "He is in our custody, but his government failed to make any sincere effort for his release, and now this new development could add to his woes."

AFP - Getty Images

This image grab from an undated video reportedly posted on the internet by Afghan militants on Dec. 25, 2009, allegedly shows U.S. soldier Bowe Robert Bergdahl, who was captured in Afghanistan around six months previously.

The Haqqanis, a Pashtun tribe with strongholds in southeastern Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan, have been blamed for an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and other high-profile assaults in Afghanistan.  The group is also believed to be holding U.S. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured in 2009 in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, bordering Pakistan’s South Waziristan.

Members of the network say Bergdahl was handed over to the Taliban when a delegation of senior Taliban leaders began peace talks with the U.S. in Qatar in exchange for the top five Taliban commanders from Guantanamo Bay. After those talks failed, the Taliban sources told NBC News that Bergdahl was returned to the Haqqani network.

Report: US offers Taliban more for captive soldier

On Friday, U.S. officials announced that the Obama administration would formally designate the Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist organization. The move was part of a complicated political decision as the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan and pushes for a reconciliation pact to end more than a decade of warfare.  

But the move would only undermine the United States' efforts in the region, one of the Haqqani commanders told NBC News.

NYT: White House backs listing Haqqani militant group as terrorists, officials say

"How (will) their talks with the Taliban bring peace to Afghanistan when they declared us terrorists?" the commander, who asked to remain anonymous, said. "It would further increase their hardship and they should wait for more losses in the coming days." 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed a report to Congress saying the network met criteria for a terrorist designation on Friday, State Department officials told reporters.  

'Frustrated' dad of kidnapped US soldier takes action

The Obama administration has been trying to coax Afghanistan's fighting groups into peace talks, offering the prospect of a Qatar-based political office for insurgents and even the transfer of several prisoners being held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Negotiations have been dormant for months, and the Haqqanis have been among the least interested in talking.

Designation by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization would bring sanctions such as criminal penalties for anyone providing material support to the group and seizure of any assets in the United States.

The Haqqani commanders also told NBC News that they were part of the mainstream Afghan Taliban headed by Mulla Mohammad Omar and declaring them as a terrorist group would make it worse for the United States and its allies in in Afghanistan.

"We are fighters of Islam Emirate of Afghanistan led by our supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar," a senior commander said. "Our aim is to expel all the occupying forces from Afghanistan and install a purely Islamic government there."

The Pentagon welcomed the designation of the group as a terrorist group.

"The Haqqani Network represents a significant threat to U.S. national security and we will continue our aggressive military action against this threat," said George Little, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, in a statement. "These new group designations will build on our efforts to degrade the Network's capacity to carry out attacks, including affecting fundraising abilities, targeting them with our military and intelligence resources, and pressing Pakistan to take action."

The United States accuses Pakistan's intelligence agency of supporting the Haqqani network and using it as a proxy in Afghanistan to gain leverage against the growing influence of its archrival, India.

Pakistan denies the allegations.

Photos: Pakistan -- A nation in turmoil

A senior Pakistani foreign ministry official, who asked to remain nameless because of the sensitivity of the issue, both denied claims that Pakistan was working with the network and dismissed the designation. 

"If we are sponsoring the Haqqanis, which we are not because they cause more problems for Pakistan than anyone else, then only will this new labeling equate to something," he told NBC News. "No responsible person has proven that we are directing them in any way. Obviously there are contacts, but the U.S. has contacts for the purposes of negotiations, etc. too with these guys."

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BEIJING -- China and the United States were divided on Wednesday over how to end the bloodshed in Syria and defuse tension in the South China Sea and other global troublespots, but stressed hope for steady ties as they navigate political transitions at home. 

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi vowed goodwill after talks which had been preceded by criticism from Beijing of Clinton's calls for a multilateral solution to the territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas.

Clinton told reporters that such disagreements did not have to hobble cooperation.

Jim Watson / Pool via Reuters

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday.

"I'm very proud of the strength and resilience that we have built into our relationship," she said after talks with Yang in the cavernous Great Hall of the People in Beijing. 

"It makes it possible for us to talk about anything, and to find ways to tackle issues frankly and forthrightly," Clinton said, adding that the two sides would not see eye-to-eye on all the issues that are part of their vast relationship. 

Chinese media: 'Many Chinese people dislike Hillary'

Yang also cast relations in a positive light, saying both sides could work together as long as "mutual respect for each other's core interests and major concerns" continues. 

"History and facts have repeatedly proven that China and the United States have interwoven interests," said Yang. 

The remarks underscored efforts by both sides to contain quarrels, especially as they focus on domestic politics. China's Communist Party is preoccupied with a once-in-a-decade leadership change over the coming months, while President Barack Obama is focused on a re-election fight culminating in November. 

Praise, little consensus
Clinton praised China for helping to apply pressure on Iran over its nuclear activities, and Yang sounded a moderating note on Syria by balancing opposition to outside intervention with support for a "political transition." 

"China is willing to maintain and strengthen dialogue, communication and coordination with the U.S.," Chinese President Hu Jintao told Clinton, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry's website. 

Much at stake for US as tensions rise in troubled China Seas

"Maintaining stable development of Sino-U.S. economic and trade ties has an important impact on the two countries, as well as the revival and growth of the world economy." 

Neither side gave ground on the South China Sea disputes, which have emerged as a persistent irritant, reflecting suspicions in Beijing that the Obama administration is seeking to curb Chinese influence. 

China's claims over much of the South China Sea, including the Spratly and Paracel islands, have put it at loggerheads with Vietnam, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations. A similar dispute has set China against Japan in the East China Sea. 

China has been especially irked by the U.S.-backed proposals for a multilateral approach to resolving such disputes, preferring to negotiate separately with each of the far less powerful Asian claimants. 

'Big enough for all of us': Clinton says US can work with China in Pacific

A U.S. official told traveling reporters that Vice President Xi Jinping, who is overwhelmingly likely to succeed Hu as president, had to cancel his meeting with Clinton. Vice Premier Li Keqiang would meet her instead, said the official. 

Xi canceled an earlier meeting with Singapore's prime minister, a sign his absence was not a snub at Clinton. 

"We hope people will not make unnecessary speculation," Yang said of Xi's absence. 

'Fishing for advantage' 
The overseas edition of state mouthpiece the People's Daily laid out China's concerns ahead of Clinton's meetings, suggesting the United States was seeking to gain leverage from China's tensions with Japan and Southeast Asian countries. 

"The United States' recent conduct concerning the Diaoyu islands and South China Sea issues cannot but create the suspicion that it is attempting to sow discord in order to fish for advantage," said a front-page commentary in the paper, which broadly reflects official thinking. 

China and Japan have rival claims to the uninhabited Diaoyu islands -- called Senkaku in Japan -- and surrounding fishing areas and potentially rich gas deposits. 

"Regarding the South China Sea, the position of the Chinese government has been consistent and clear cut. China has sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and their adjacent waters," Yang, the foreign minister, told reporters. 

"Nowhere else do China and the United States share more converging interests and interact more frequently than in the Asia-Pacific region," he said. 

Pacific micro-nations cash in on US-China aid rivalry

Clinton repeated that the United States took no position on the contending claims but wanted China and Southeast Asian states to agree on a code of conduct to avoid flare-ups.

"The United States does not take a position on competing territorial claims ... but we believe the nations of the region should work collaboratively to resolve disputes without coercion, without intimidation and certainly without the use of force," she said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

"That is why we encourage ASEAN and China to make meaningful progress toward finalizing a comprehensive code of conduct in order to establish rules of the road and clear procedures for peacefully addressing disagreements."  

Reigning in North Korea
The Obama administration also wants greater Chinese cooperation on other international problems, including reining in the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs and finding a solution to the Syria crisis. 

China backs a "political transition" in Syria to end worsening bloodshed after 18 months of unrest, Yang said while repeating Beijing's opposition to forceful foreign intervention in the crisis. 

As Clinton preps for Asia-Pacific tour, is North Korea capable of reform?

Clinton said it was "no secret" the U.S. government was disappointed by the positions of China and Russia on Syria, and she reiterated that the best course of action remained tough U.N. Security Council action. 

Yang also said his government opposed the efforts of any country, including Iran, to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran denies having such ambitions. 

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Jim Watson / AP

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during an event on peace and security in the Pacific, in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, on Friday.

RAROTONGA, Cook Islands -- The United States will buttress security partnerships across the Pacific as it strengthens ties with island nations, but also hopes to work more closely with China as Beijing expands its own influence in the region, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Friday.

Clinton arrived in the tiny Pacific outpost of the Cook Islands for this year's Pacific Islands Forum, part of Washington's effort to woo nations across the Asia-Pacific which are increasingly coming under China's shadow.

Clinton told the gathering, which represents 16 independent and self-governing states ranging from Australia and New Zealand to smaller islands such as Tuvalu and Nauru, that the United States was in the region for the long haul.

But she also played down growing perceptions of a U.S.-China rivalry in the region, declaring "the Pacific is big enough for all of us" and dismissing the notion that expanded U.S. activity was "a hedge against particular countries."

Much at stake for US as tensions rise in troubled China Seas

"We think it is important for the Pacific Island nations to have good relationships with as many partners as possible, and that includes China as well as the United States," Clinton told a news conference with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

"We want to see more international development projects that include the participation of China," Clinton said, citing disaster relief, maritime security and preserving bio-diversity.

"We think that there's a great opportunity to work with China and we're going to be looking for more ways to do that," she said.

For more coverage on China, visit NBC's Behind The Wall

China's Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai is also attending the Pacific forum and told reporters Beijing's presence in the Pacific was not about geo-political influence.

"We are here in this region not to seek any particular influence, still less dominance," Cui told a news conference before Clinton made her remarks.

"We are here to work with island countries to achieve sustainable development, because both China and the Pacific island countries belong to the rank of developing countries.

"Although we are far away geographically, although we have different national conditions....we are faced with very similar tasks of achieving sustainable development, of improving the lives of our peoples."

$32 million in new aid
Despite her softer tone on China -- which comes just four days before she pays a visit to Beijing next week -- Clinton also sought to underscore the benefits of the "American model of partnership" in a region where China has in recent years dramatically stepped up its diplomacy and foreign assistance.

She announced more than $32 million in new U.S. programs on issues ranging from sustainable development, climate change and marine protection.

Ex-US consulate guard admits trying to sell secrets to China

But Clinton also stressed that the United States plays a crucial security role in the region, noting that the U.S. Coast Guard already has formal partnerships with nine Pacific Island nations and was working to build more as part of a broader "pivot" to the Asia-Pacific.

"All of us have an interest in maintaining peace and security in the Pacific," Clinton said, adding the United States was committed to helping fight illegal and unregulated shipping, patrol fishing grounds, and combat other human trafficking.

In a signal of Washington's security emphasis on the region, U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) chief Admiral Samuel Locklear also traveled to Rarotonga to hail joint maritime exercises and cooperation on issues such as cleaning up unexploded ordinance left over from the Second World War.

"U.S. PACOM is committed to supporting our Pacific Island partners," Locklear said.

Rivalry with China
Clinton's trip to the South Pacific has spurred some criticism in China, where some commentators accused the United States of seeking to stir up trouble as Beijing's economic and political influence expands.

In recent trips to other regions of the world, most notably Africa, Clinton has sought to contrast the U.S. approach to cooperative economic development with other models such as China's, which focus more on condition-free loans and extractive industries such as mining and timber.

Beijing is financing projects across the region including constructing parliament buildings, airports, roads and hospitals and giving out grants for Chinese language instruction.

Clinton depicted these efforts, which some local analysts say appear aimed at building Beijing's influence in multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, as not necessarily at odds with U.S. interests -- although she pointedly noted that sometimes China's methods were open to criticism.

As Clinton preps for Asia-Pacific tour, is North Korea capable of reform?

"Here in the Pacific we want to see China act in a fair and transparent way," Clinton said.

The three-day visit by Clinton and the 60-odd person U.S. delegation to the Cook Islands - which is in free association with New Zealand - was a major event for the nation's main island of Rarotonga, which has only about 11,000 people.

"We are encouraged by you and your government's commitment to strengthen the United States government's engagement in our region," Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna said in his welcoming remarks.

Clinton's trip will continue to Indonesia and China next week, where her new conciliatory tone will be put the test in talks expected to focus on rising tensions in the South China Sea where Beijing is at odds with several of its southern neighbors over territorial claims.

A summit of regional leaders in July failed to reach consensus on how to handle the disputes. Clinton will press them to find common ground and hash out a framework for negotiating with China, U.S. officials said.

One senior official told reporters that it was "absolutely manifest" that ASEAN nations find a way to deal with China. "It's not a matter of geo-strategy, it's a matter of geography," the official said.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly preview the discussions, said Clinton would be stressing the U.S. view "that it is absolutely essential that cooler heads prevail in every capital and that great care be taken on these issues."

The U.S. takes no position on the sovereignty of the disputed territories, though some are claimed by allies such as South Korea, Japan and the Philippines as well as China, but "insists that they are dealt with diplomatically, without coercion (and) without the threat of the use of force." 

Clinton will finish the trip with stops in Brunei and East Timor before heading to the Russian port city of Vladivostok, where she will represent U.S. President Barack Obama at this year's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit of regional leaders.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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