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Syrians chant slogans and wave the new Syrian flag as they gather for Friday prayers at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. PA

Jordan hosts international talks on Syria as celebrations continue in Damascus

Crowds cheered and waved flags in the square outside the landmark Umayyad Mosque after Friday prayers.

LAST UPDATE | 14 Dec 2024

TOP DIPLOMATS FROM the United States, the Arab League and Turkey are meeting in Jordan to discuss plans and goals to assist Syria’s transition from the deposed government of Bashar Assad.

Some 12 foreign ministers and senior officials from the European Union and United Nations gathered in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba to try to forge consensus on what the new leadership in Syria should prioritise.

No Syrian representatives are set to attend, however.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says broad consensus exists among regional partners that Syria’s new government must be inclusive, must respect women and minority rights, reject terrorism and secure and destroy suspected Assad-era chemical weapons stockpiles.

Blinken is wrapping up a three-country regional tour in Aqaba after visiting Iraq, Turkey and Jordan once already this week.

Syrians celebrated across the country yesterday for a day they called the “Friday of victory”, with fireworks heralding the fall of the Assad dynasty.

More than half a century of brutal rule by the Assad family came to a sudden end on Sunday, after a lightning rebel offensive swept across the country and took the capital. 14 years of war in Syria claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, and displaced millions.

Turkey has announced that it will reopen its embassy in Damascus, which had been closed since 2012 amid calls by Ankara for Assad to step down.

A Qatari diplomat said a delegation from the Gulf emirate would visit Syria on Sunday to meet transitional government officials and discuss aid and the reopening of their embassy.

Qatar, Unlike other Arab states, never restored diplomatic ties with Assad after a rupture in 2011.

In a statement on Thursday, the G7 leaders said they were committed to “work with and fully support” a future Syrian government that agreed to ensure “respect for the rule of law, universal human rights, including women’s rights, the protection of all Syrians, including religious and ethnic minorities, transparency and accountability”.

Meanwhile, Israeli troops have pushed into Syria and bombed targets across the country, with the government in Tel Aviv saying it is attempting to secure its border after the collapse of the Assad regime and prevent weapons falling into the wrong hands.

With additional; reporting from Press Association

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