Arab, EU diplomats in Saudi for talks on support for Syria

Top diplomats from the Middle East and Europe arrived in the Saudi capital on Sunday to discuss Syria, as world powers push for stability after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Saudi Arabia, the Middle East's biggest economy, is seeking to increase its influence in Syria after Islamist-led rebels toppled Assad last month, analysts say.

The talks will include a meeting of Arab officials as well as a broader gathering also including Turkey, France, the European Union and the United Nations, a Saudi official told AFP.

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the main rebel group in the alliance that overthrew Assad, is pushing for sanctions relief. His administration is represented at the Riyadh talks by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani.

Western powers, including the United States and the European Union, imposed sanctions on Assad's government over his brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011, which triggered civil war.

More than 13 years of conflict have killed over half a million Syrians, left infrastructure destroyed and the people impoverished, while millions have fled their homes, including to Europe.

The United States Treasury Department said last Monday it would ease enforcement on restrictions affecting essential services including energy and sanitation.

But US officials say they will wait to see progress before any wider easing of sanctions.

The European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said on Friday that the 27-nation bloc could begin lifting sanctions if Syria's new rulers took steps to form an inclusive government that protected minorities.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Sunday told reporters in Riyadh that her government wanted a "smart approach" to sanctions that would enable aid to reach Syrians.

"Sanctions against Assad's henchmen who committed serious crimes during the civil war must remain in place... Syrians now need a quick dividend from the transition of power," she said, adding that Germany would provide another 50 million euros "for food, emergency shelter and medical care."

According to the United Nations, seven out of 10 Syrians need help.

- Saudi weighs support -

Saudi Arabia cut ties with Assad's government in 2012 and had long openly championed his ouster. But in 2023 it hosted an Arab League meeting at which Assad was welcomed back into the regional fold.

This month the Gulf kingdom sent food, shelter and medical supplies to Syria over land and by plane.

Riyadh is now negotiating how to support the war-struck country's transition beyond that.

"This summit sends the message that Saudi Arabia wants to take the lead on coordinating the regional effort to support Syria's recovery," said Anna Jacobs, non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

"But the big question is how much time and how many resources will Saudi Arabia devote to this effort? And what is possible with many of the sanctions remaining in place?"

The meetings on Sunday represent a continuation of talks on post-Assad Syria held last month in Jordan, the Saudi official said.

After those talks in Aqaba, diplomats called in a joint statement for a Syrian-led transition to "produce an inclusive, non-sectarian and representative government formed through a transparent process".

The statement also stressed "respect for human rights" and the importance of combating "terrorism and extremism", demanding all parties cease hostilities in Syria.

- Vying for influence -

US Under Secretary of State John Bass was also set to attend the Riyadh meeting, coming from talks in Turkey that partly covered "the importance of regional stability, preventing Syria from being used as a base for terrorism, and ensuring the enduring defeat" of the Islamic State group, the State Department said.

Saudi Arabia is among the countries taking a more cautious approach to Syria's new administration than Turkey and Qatar, which were the first to reopen embassies in Damascus after Assad's fall, said Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi politics at the University of Birmingham.

But Riyadh is "positively approaching" the new leaders in Syria, looking to see if they can bring stability and "control the more extreme elements in (their) ranks", Karim said.

The group that Sharaa leads, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is rooted in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, but years ago broke that link and has sought to moderate its image.

Sunday's gathering "gives Riyadh an opportunity to increase its sway with the new Syrian government, and cultivate greater influence in a country where Turkey and Qatar now have more sway", Jacobs said.