US top diplomat John Kerry headed Saturday for Paris to hold talks about the Syrian crisis, hoping to press the fractured opposition to participate in upcoming peace talks.

US top diplomat John Kerry headed Saturday for Paris to hold talks about the Syrian crisis, hoping to press the fractured opposition to participate in upcoming peace talks.

The Sunday meeting of the "Friends of Syria" grouping at the French foreign affairs ministry will include ministers from 11 countries that support the so-called Geneva II peace process as well as the president of Syria's main opposition National Coalition, Ahmed Jarba.

Those countries -- the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypte and Jordan -- will increase pressure on Jarba to persuade the opposition to join the UN-led talks, which are set to open in the Swiss town of Montreux on January 22.