Negotiations on Syria held in Riyadh with the participation of the West and the region Reuters
By Pesha Magid
RIYADH (Reuters) – Foreign ministers and top diplomats from Western and Middle Eastern countries are meeting Syria’s new foreign minister in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Sunday for the first such regional meeting on Syria since President Bashar al-Assad was ousted last month.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in Riyadh on Sunday morning ahead of a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani.
British Foreign Minister David Lammy is expected to join the talks, according to a press release from the British Foreign Office.
The ministers of foreign affairs of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey were in Riyadh at the Sunday meeting, as well as the representatives of the European Union and the United States. Other high-ranking Arab and Western officials are expected to attend.
A lightning-quick rebel offensive ousted Assad on December 8, and the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebels, who led the advance, installed an interim government that named Shibani as foreign minister.
“Discussions in Riyadh will be led by Arabs and will focus on the next steps the international community can take to support the interim Syrian authorities, including mechanisms to hold the Assad regime accountable for war crimes it has committed against the Syrian people,” the British statement said.
The meeting is the first in which both the new Syrian rulers and the highest Western officials will participate, and it will be led by Saudi Arabia.
A meeting of the highest diplomats from the USA follows, United Kingdom (TADAWUL:), France, Germany and the European Union held a meeting on Syria on Thursday in Rome and a landmark meeting that Jordan organized in December when regional players signaled concern about Syria’s new Islamist rulers and what they need to do to gain international recognition.
Sunday’s conference comes as the new Syrian administration is seeking the lifting of sanctions by the West to aid international funding in Damascus.
In recent days, Germany, Italy and France advocated for the easing of EU sanctions on Syria, but the final decision could only come from the entire bloc.
The United States on Monday issued an exemption from sanctions on transactions with the ruling institutions in Syria six months after the end of Assad’s rule to try to ease the flow of humanitarian aid.
