High-level Middle East-West talks on Saudi Arabia's 'Syria aid discussion'

An international conference was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the 12th local time to discuss ways to support Syria, which has a rebel-led transitional government after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad's dictatorship.

The meeting was attended by Arab nations in the Middle East, including the foreign ministers of host Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon, and the Syrian interim government's foreign minister, Assad Hasan al-Shibani.Direct and indirect stakeholders such as

Toh Kaya Kallas, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and the United States and the United Nations Special Envoy have accepted the invitation.

"We will hold the Assad regime accountable for its war crimes and focus on the next steps the international community can do to support the Syrian transitional government," the UK said in a government statement.

The meeting came as Syria's transitional government demanded the lifting of Western sanctions to attract international funds every day.

In response, EU High Representative Kallas said, "In the process of political transition, practical progress that reflects all diversity in Syria must be prioritized," signaling careful progress.

Earlier, Middle Eastern Arab foreign ministers held high-level talks in Aqaba, Jordan, on the 14th of last month and adopted a joint statement calling for a peaceful transfer of power from Syria, where rebels ousted the dictatorship.