Arab and EU leaders meet in Riyadh to discuss future of Syria
Arab and EU leaders arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Sunday as talks began on the future of Syria following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.
A Saudi official told AFP these are set to include a meeting of Arab officials and a wider gathering involving Turkey, France, the EU and the United Nations.
A major topic of discussion is likely to be the lifting of sanctions on Syria, which have crippled the country's economy for years.
Syria's new transition government led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate, has been pushing for the end of sanctions as a precursor to the rebuilding of the country after 14 years of devastating civil war.
Syria's trade minister, Maher Khalil al-Hasan, told Reuters on Monday that Syria faced "a catastrophe" if sanctions were not lifted to allow the war-ravaged country to start high-level investments in industry, energy and oil. He also said US sanctions were holding up the import of wheat.
Kaja Kallas, vice-president of the European Commission, said on Friday that the EU would look at lifting sanctions if Syria's new rulers formed 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.
"Sanctions against Assad's henchmen who committed serious crimes during the civil war must remain in place," she said, adding that Germany would provide another €50m "for food, emergency shelter and medical care."
"Syrians now need a quick dividend from the transition of power," she said.
Saudi Arabia cut ties with Assad's government in 2012 and began supporting forces trying to overthrow him, but in 2023 it hosted an Arab League meeting at which Assad was welcomed back into the regional fold.
Sanctions relief
The US has applied a thicket of sanctions on Syria, going back to 1979 when it designated it a state sponsor of terrorism.
In 2006, President George W Bush imposed sweeping sanctions prohibiting American exports to Syria and banning transactions with the country's Commercial Bank.
Read More »US sanctions on Syria ramped up massively after 2011 as Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protesters and the civil war raged. The US slapped sanctions on Syrian businessmen, banks and the government. Bilateral US-Syria trade, which still stood at roughly $900m in 2010, dropped below $60m in 2012.
US economic ties have since revolved around northeast Syria, which is controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
In 2020, a US company was awarded a sanctions waiver to develop oil fields in the region, but that project withered.
After 2011, the EU also imposed sanctions on Syria similar to the US. The web of sanctions fell broadly into two categories. The first targeted individuals with travel bans and asset freezes. The second sought to prevent the Syrian government from accessing global financial channels, curb Syrian imports from Western countries and embargo Syrian oil exports.
