Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media as he arrives on Jan. 9, 2025, for a meeting at Rome's Villa Madama to discuss the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime.
ROME —
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is traveling to Syria on Friday to encourage the country\’s transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by Islamist insurgents, and said Europe should review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Syria’s Druzee await new government before laying down arms
The code has been copied to your clipboard.
px
px
-
Share on Twitter
The URL has been copied to your clipboard
No media source currently available
0:00
0:01:39
Download
-
240p | 4.7MB
-
360p | 7.8MB
-
480p | 13.4MB
-
720p | 24.8MB
-
1080p | 39.2MB
Tajani presided Thursday over a meeting in Rome of foreign ministry officials from five countries — Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States — and spoke earlier by telephone with his counterparts from Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria\’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, an Islamic militant group that the U.S. and United Nations have long designated as a terrorist organization.
"The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That\’s why I\’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation," said Tajani.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to the sanctions regime on Syria. "It\’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn\’t there anymore, it\’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged," he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the United States, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad\’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on December 8 and ended his family\’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad\’s downfall, Syria\’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The U.S. has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian rebel leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria\’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria\’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of Islamist insurgents.
By：VOA
Related posts:
UN Syria envoy calls for inclusive transition, warns failure would risk new conflict
Chadian opposition says elections should be canceled, calls for new transition
Syria post-Assad: Alawite minority faces uncertainty under Islamist rebel control
Blinken travels to Mideast as Syria navigates post-Assad path
Erdogan says Turkey expects allies to pull support from Kurds in post-Assad Syria
Amid divisions, Kurds pursue unified representation in post-Assad Syria
Russia ramps up disinformation efforts as its grip weakens over post-Assad Syria
Post-Assad Syria faces challenges in building unified military
Calls rise for accountability in Assad's crimes against journalists in Syria
American imprisoned in Assad's Syria calls his release from prison a 'blessing'
UN envoy calls for sanctions relief to help rebuild Syria
US says review of Nippon-US Steel tie-up ongoing as US Steel shares tumble
-