Arab, European foreign ministers in Saudi Arabia for talks on Syria

Saudi Arabia will host a meeting of foreign ministers from the Middle East and Europe on Sunday to hold talks on the transition process in Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime last month, a Saudi official told AFP.

"There will be two meetings tomorrow (Sunday). The first will be between Arab countries. The second will include Arab countries and other countries," including France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Turkey and Spain, the official said on Saturday.

The official said the talks would focus on “Syria broadly,” including support for the new administration and a possible lifting of sanctions. Undersecretary of State John Bass is also scheduled to attend what a State Department statement described as “a multilateral meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia of senior government officials from the region and global partners to coordinate international support for the Syrian people.”

Bass is heading to Riyadh from Turkey, where he held talks on Syria with senior officials, the foreign ministry said in a statement. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock were among other officials who confirmed their attendance as of Saturday evening.

The Saudi official said the meeting was an extension of talks on a post-Assad Syria held last month in Aqaba, Jordan. Western powers, including the United States and the European Union, have imposed sanctions on Assad’s government over its brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011 that sparked the country’s civil war. The 13-year conflict in Syria has killed more than half a million people, devastated the economy and forced millions to flee their homes.

(AFP)