Saudi Arabia hosts expanded Arab meeting on Syria

By Ibrahim Khazen

CAIRO (AA) – Saudi Arabia hosted an expanded Arab ministerial meeting on Syria on Sunday following last month’s fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

The meeting is attended by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon as well as Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul-Gheit and Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is also present at the meeting.

Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party's decades-long regime.

The takeover came after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters captured key cities in a lightning offensive that lasted less than two weeks.

A new administration led by Ahmed al-Sharaa has now taken control of the country.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi