Foreign ministers call for lifting of Western sanctions on Syria

Syria’s foreign minister and his counterparts from neighbouring countries have called for the lifting of Western-led sanctions and post-war reconciliation.

The foreign ministers of Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon made their remarks alongside Syrian foreign minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani following a meeting in the Jordanian capital Amman.

It comes following days of clashes between Syrian security forces and insurgents of the minority Alawite community loyal to the deposed Bashar Assad government in the country’s coastal province.

Some rights groups say the fighting has killed hundreds.

The United States and Europe have been hesitant to lift sanctions on Syria before there is a clear political transition that is democratic and inclusive of Syria’s minorities and civil society.

At the same time, the country desperately needs money to rebuild after years of war and to pull millions out of poverty. The United Nations estimates that some 90% of Syria’s population lives in poverty.

“We are protecting all components of the Syrian people, and we do not discriminate between them. We will not allow the repetition of the tragedies of the Syrian people,” said Mr Al-Shibani.

Syria’s new Islamist authorities under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa have struggled to convince the United States and Europe to lift sanctions to start rebuilding the country after 13 years of war, and to reconcile with the Kurds in the north east and Druze in the south to exert state authority across the country.

Syria’s neighbours fear that the country’s pulverised economy and internal tensions could affect their own stability.

“Stability in Syria requires dialogue with the country’s various components,” said Iraqi foreign minister Fouad Hussein at a joint news conference.

The foreign ministers were critical of what they said was foreign intervention in the region after Israeli troops conducted military operations in southern Syria and seized a UN buffer zone that divides Syria from the Golan Heights, which Israel seized and annexed in 1967.

On Sunday, the Israeli commanding officers visited and assessed the buffer zone.

Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan welcomed the “historic” meeting and called for cooperation to decrease tension in Syria, and said he alongside others will work against sleeper cells belonging to the extremist so-called Islamic State group and affiliates of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Syria and Iraq.

“This is a regional problem. Regardless of our ideals we should all combat IS as well as the PKK, they are both terrorist entities,” he added.

Iraq’s foreign minister warned that IS sleeper cells are growing in numbers.

“We need to take the initiative first in exchanging views and information about (the Islamic State group’s) latest operations and especially their expansion not only on the Syrian borders with Iraq and Jordan but also their expansion in the Syrian land,” said Mr Hussein.