Will Riad Saif be Washington's man in Syria?

The name keeps popping up around the Doha meetings currently being held to rebrand the Syrian opposition.

He certainly has a CV that would appeal to Washington. A secular businessman with real credibility in Syria. His experience as an opposition parliamentarian going back almost twenty years bodes well. He's not just some ex-pat CIA asset who has been biding his time in London or Virginia.

In an interview he gave between prison stints almost six years ago he was eerily prescient about Arab Spring and the turmoil now engulfing his country. He was also adamant about keeping foreigners out of internal Syrian affairs.

This would be his undoing if he turns out to be the newly minted leader of a unified opposition. While he has credibility at home and abroad, he won't have it with the Islamist radicals doing most of the heavy lifting in the rebellion.

This could lead to the next phase of this war; open warfare not against Assad but between the al Qaeda linked rebel groups and those that have the blessings and the stinger missiles of the US.