UPDATE - Saudi Arabia hosts expanded Arab meeting on Syria

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Ibrahim Khazen

CAIRO (AA) – Saudi Arabia hosted an expanded Arab ministerial meeting on Syria on Sunday following last month’s fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

The meeting is attended by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon as well as Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul-Gheit and Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is also present at the meeting.

The Arab ministerial meeting will be followed by an international meeting featuring the Arab foreign ministers and the top diplomats of Türkiye, Britain, and Germany. The US and Italy will participate at the level of deputy foreign ministers, according to the Saudi television channel Al Ekhbariya.

UN envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen also arrived in Riyadh to attend the planned meeting.

The broadcaster said Sunday’s meeting reflects Saudi Arabia’s efforts to expedite Syria's integration into the international community.

Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party's decades-long regime.

The takeover came after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters captured key cities in a lightning offensive that lasted less than two weeks.

A new administration led by Ahmed al-Sharaa has now taken control of the country.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi