Ministers from 17 countries meet for Saudi talks on speeding aid to Damascus
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Riyadh meeting also discussed keeping pressure on Syria’s new leadership to meet commitment to inclusive transition. Ministers from 17 Middle East and western countries have met in Riyadh to discuss how to speed aid to the new Syrian government while keeping pressure on the caretaker leadership to meet its commitment to run an administration representative of all religions and ethnic groups.
The meeting on Sunday came as protesters in Syria called on the west to move faster on lifting economic sanctions, and so persuade more refugees to return from Europe and the states surrounding the country. The US last week eased some restrictions on emergency humanitarian aid and some energy supplies, which allowed Qatar to send a sea tanker of gas to Syria on Sunday.
Neither Russia nor Iran, the dominant external powers under the former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, were invited to the summit, which was also attended by Syria’s foreign minister, Asaad al-Shibani. It was the first time Shibani has taken part in such a large meeting of ministers.
Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the event is regarded as significant since it shows Riyadh wants to play a leading role alongside Turkey and Qatar in rebuilding Syria. In the past Saudi Arabia and Turkey have backed different factions opposing Assad. Western diplomats still believe Syria’s new leader and the head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is sincere in promising to form a broader government by March. However, they fear that the unexpected success of his Islamist group’s military offensive in December has left Sharaa unprepared, and prone to mistakes. Some western diplomats are expecting that an initially proposed March power-transfer date will slip as he struggles to gather a consensus around how to provide democratic veneer to a new broader-based government and plans for a new constitution.
