By Pesha Magid

RIYADH (Reuters) – Foreign ministers and top diplomats from Western and Middle Eastern countries met Syria’s new foreign minister in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Sunday in the first such regional meeting in Syria. since President Bashar al-Assad was ousted last month.

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in Riyadh on Sunday morning before a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani.

British Foreign Minister David Lammy is also expected to participate in the talks, according to a statement released by the UK Foreign Office.

Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey were all in Riyadh for Sunday’s meeting and envoys from the European Union and the United States. Other top Arab and Western officials are expected to attend.

A lightning rebel offensive toppled Assad on December 8 and the Islamist rebels Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the advance, installed a government administrator that designated Shibani as a foreigner. who is a minister.

“Discussions in Riyadh will be led by the Arabs and will focus on the next steps the international community can take to support the interim authority in Syria, including mechanisms to hold the Assad regime accountable for war crimes. they did against the Syrian people,” the British statement said.

The meeting was the first to include the new rulers of Syria and top officials of the West and led by Saudi Arabia.

This follows a meeting of top diplomats from the US, United KINGDOM (TADAWUL:), France, Germany and the European Union held in Syria in Rome on Thursday and a landmark meeting hosted by Jordan in December when regional players voiced concerns about the new Islamist rulers. in Syria and what they need to do to get international recognition.

Sunday’s conference comes as Syria’s new administration urges the lifting of Western sanctions to help international funding flow to Damascus.

Germany, Italy and France in recent days have pushed for EU sanctions on Syria to be relaxed, but a final decision can only come from the entire bloc.

The United States on Monday issued a sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months after the end of Assad’s rule to try to ease the flow of humanitarian aid.