- NEW: Annan: "The way things have been going thus far -- we are not helping anyone"
- Hague urges world powers to "create a roadmap to lead Syria back from the brink"
- At least 33 people are killed Saturday, opposition activists say
- Opposition leader says no transition is possible with al-Assad in power
Geneva, Switzerland (CNN) -- In a last-gasp attempt to end the carnage in Syria and contain a growing crisis that some diplomats warn could potentially engulf the entire region, members of the international community gathered in Geneva Saturday.
The "action group" meeting was called by Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan, whose "six point plan" to resolve the crisis is almost defunct.
Annan issued a dire warning as the opening session began at the United Nations' European headquarters.
"We should never have reached this point," he said. His plan, he said, has not been implemented. Some U.N. members, he said, "simultaneously took national or collective initiatives of their own, undermining the process."
"The way things have been going thus far -- we are not helping anyone."
U.S. diplomats were pessimistic as well. "Discussions remain challenging," a senior State Department official told reporters. "We're continuing to work on this today but we need a plan that's strong and credible. We may get there; we may not."
The official spoke on background because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue.
A one-on-one meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in St. Petersburg, Russia, on the eve of the Geneva meeting also failed to yield any progress.
International diplomats say the United States and Russia remain divided on the key question of the fate of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.
The United States and many other nations demand he step down to make way for a transitional unity government. Russia says his future must be decided solely by the Syrian people, with no outside interference.
As various diplomats emerged from the morning session, some were more optimistic.
But even Annan, in his opening remarks, was blunt: division among the participating nations is tearing apart any effort at peace.
"In a scenario of open competition between outside powers," he said, "the outcome of this crisis will be measured not by gains made but by who suffers least."
Annan invited top diplomats from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, along with envoys from Turkey, the United Nations, the European Union and the Arab League, to the emergency meeting.
Before going into the main conference, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Annan and the British and French foreign ministers. She also held talks with their Turkish and Qatari counterparts.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Russia and China were making negotiations on the subject "very difficult."
In his remarks to the conference, Hague urged his fellow delegates to heed Annan's words and "act with urgency and determination, to create a roadmap to lead Syria back from the brink, and to insist on its full implementation."
Without concrete steps there will be no hope of changing the situation on the ground, he said.
"None of us seek military action in Syria. None of us seek to impose a solution on the Syrian people. None of us seek to change regional power structures, or affect long-standing national interests in Syria," Hague said. "I believe all of us wish to see a peaceful Syrian-led settlement, and a stable, sovereign and free Syria."
Speaking from Cairo, the coordinator of the Preparatory Committee of the Syrian Opposition Conference, Rima Flihan, said no transition would be possible with al-Assad in power.
"No dialogue will start before Assad steps down and we insist on our right to put on trial everyone who participated in the mass killings against our people and that every single official who ordered these crimes must be held responsible before we discuss a political road map for a political solution," she said.
The bloodshed continued in Syria as the latest round of discussions got under way.
At least 33 people died Saturday across Syria, the opposition group Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.
They included 10 civilians, children among them, who were killed in Souran, Hama, by regime forces, the group said. Three more were killed in Aleppo, which security forces shelled with rockets and heavy machinery, the LCC said.
Syrian state TV reported deadly clashes between regime forces and "armed terrorists" in Idlib. The LCC earlier reported intense mortar shelling and heavy artillery in the area.
"We're confident that God's victory is near," marchers chanted Friday in demonstrations near the presidential palace in central Damascus. "We will no longer kneel to anyone but God."
They lambasted al-Assad's family with cries of, "We are coming after you, may God curse your soul."
In an interview Thursday with an Iranian state media, al-Assad said Syrians support the state in the face of foreign interference.
Some countries want to see military action against Syria of the same kind as was seen in Libya, al-Assad told Iran's Channel 4, according to Syria's state-run SANA news agency.
"We don't have any information of specific plans, but there are bids by the a few countries to push the issue toward military action," he said.
The death toll has mounted since March last year, when a bloody government crackdown on peaceful protests intensified into an anti-regime uprising.
The uprising against the al-Assad regime shows no sign of abating. The Local Coordination Committees estimates more than 14,000 people have died in Syria since it started.
Violence rages on 15 months after the anti-government protests started.
On Friday, several explosions hit Damascus neighborhoods, the opposition group said. And regime forces killed at least 70 people across Syria, more than 10 of them children, according to the group.
CNN cannot independently confirm the reports of casualties or violence because Syria restricts access by international journalists.
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