The U.S. 's closest Arab allies are pressing President Barack Obama to take the lead in bridging the Middle East 's divisions over Syria , traveling to Washington to drive home their fears some of the region's leaders are strengthening radicals and prolonging President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

The coordinated message was delivered to Mr. Obama during separate White House meetings in recent weeks with Jordan's King Abdullah II, the United Arab Emirates' Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, according to senior U.S. and Arab officials familiar with the discussions.

The three royals' message to Mr. Obama was a not-so-subtle slap at Qatar and Turkey --both of which, officials in these Arab countries believe, are funneling funds and possibly weapons to groups promoting political Islam and in particular to those aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood.

They are also concerned that aid from Qatar has bolstered the Al-Nusra Front, a powerful Syrian militia fighting Mr. Assad's forces, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization.

"We need someone to manage the players" in the region, said a senior Arab official involved in the discussions. "The U.S. and the president are the only ones who can put Qatar in its place."

Qatari officials, who have publicly denied supporting the Al-Nusra Front, declined to comment. A Turkish official denied Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government was favoring Islamist parties in Syria or anywhere else in the region. "We just support the rights of the Syrian people," the official said.

Throughout Syria 's conflict, the five Sunni lands have backed efforts to support the rebels. But they have largely broken into two camps when it comes to supporting specific rebel groups or leaders--which U.S. , European and Arab leaders say has contributed to the fracturing of the opposition.

Saudi Arabia , Jordan and the U.A.E. are central players in American efforts to bring about an end to the civil war in Syria , contain Iran 's nuclear program and kick-start a new round of Arab-Israeli peace talks. But the U.S. also relies heavily on Qatar and Turkey to advance a Syrian political transition and to restart the Mideast peace process.

Riyadh , Amman and Abu Dhabi are positioning themselves as a moderate front in the Syrian crisis, said these officials, seeking to support rebel factions not aligned with the Brotherhood or linked to extremist militants.

Arab officials said they haven't pressed Mr. Obama to deploy American troops in Syria or to use U.S. warplanes. Instead, they hope he will play a higher-profile role in seeking to forge a moderate, unified coalition that is purged of "radical" elements that threaten Syrian minorities who might otherwise already have broken with Mr. Assad.

A White House official declined to comment on the specifics of Mr. Obama's talks with the three leaders but stressed that he is aggressively working to unify Mideast states on Syria .

Mr. Obama also met with Qatar 's prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, last month in Washington . He will host Mr. Erdogan at the White House in the coming weeks, the official said.

In more than two years since political rebellions broke out across the region, Jordan , the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia have been alarmed by the dominance of the Brotherhood in the newly democratic governments in Egypt and Tunisia , viewing their emergence and ideology as threats to the stability of their monarchies.

Qatar and Turkey have sought to use the Mideast 's transition to expand their diplomatic, economic and religious influence, say U.S. and Arab officials. The two countries have been the most aggressive in seeking to overthrow Mr. Assad. Qatar has been the primary financial supporter of the new governments in Cairo and Tunis , providing billions of dollars in aid to President Mohammed Morsi's government over the past 18 months, according to Qatari officials.

"In my opinion, some of our region, they did not like what happened...and they don't like it when the Muslim Brotherhood came," Sheikh Hamad, Qatar 's prime minister, said in Washington last month. "But we respect the [other's] will and the people's will in the other nations."

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