In Pics | US, regional diplomats vow to support ‘peaceful transition process’ in Syria after Assad

Top diplomats from the United States, Turkey, the European Union and Arab nations held a meeting in Jordan to “support a peaceful transition process” in Syria following President Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow. (AP)

Top diplomats from eight Arab League countries along with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pederson and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attended the meeting (AP)

Earlier, Foreign ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar issued a joint statement on Saturday after they met in the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba. (AP)

called for an inclusive and representative government that respects the rights of minorities and does not offer “a base for terrorist groups”, according to Blinken, who spoke at a news conference. (AP)

The talks come following the fall of al-Assad after a lightning offensive by the opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) last week. (AP)

According to their statement, the Arab ministers said state institutions must be preserved to stop Syria from “slipping into chaos”, also calling to boost joint “efforts to combat terrorism … as it poses a threat to Syria and to the security of the region and the world”. (AP)

They also condemned “Israel’s incursion into the buffer zone with Syria”, its air strikes in Syria, and demanded “the withdrawal of Israeli forces” from Syrian territory. (AP)