Riyadh.. Launch of the expanded Arab meeting on Syria

The Saudi capital, Riyadh, witnessed the launch of the Arab Ministerial Meeting on Syria on Sunday.

The official Saudi news channel, Al-Ekhbariya, reported that the Arab ministerial meeting began after the arrival of the Arab foreign ministers.

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry stated in a statement on Sunday that Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi is participating in the meeting.

The meeting will also include the foreign ministers of the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon and Egypt, as well as the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jassim Al-Badawi.

The Riyadh meeting on Syria is held as a continuation of the “Aqaba Meetings” on Syria, which were held in Jordan on December 14, 2024.

The Jordanian Aqaba meetings affirmed "standing by the Syrian people, and providing them with all aid and support in this historic phase to rebuild their country on the foundations that preserve its security, stability, sovereignty and unity, and fulfill the rights of its people to a safe, free, stable and dignified life on their land."

Since Saturday evening, participants in the meeting began arriving in Riyadh to participate, according to what the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in posts on its account on the “X” platform.

This is the first Arab-international meeting in which the Foreign Minister of the new Syrian administration, Asaad al-Sheibani, has participated since assuming his position.

Al-Ikhbariya channel reported that "Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan joined the expanded Arab Contact Committee meeting on Syria."

She explained that the Arab meeting will be followed by "an Arab-international meeting", in which the foreign ministers of Turkey, Syria, the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Britain and Germany are expected to participate, while the United States and Italy will participate at the level of Deputy Foreign Minister.

The Saudi channel reported the arrival of the UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, to participate in the Arab-international meeting on Syria in Riyadh.

She stressed that "holding the Riyadh meetings on Syria reflects the Kingdom's pivotal role globally and aims to quickly integrate Syria into the international community."

On December 8, 2024, Syrian factions took control of the capital, Damascus, and other cities before it, thus ending 61 years of Baath Party rule and 53 years of Assad family control.

The next day, the leader of the new Syrian administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa, announced that Mohammed al-Bashir, the head of the government that had been running Idlib for years, had been tasked with forming a new government to manage a transitional phase.

Anatolia