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Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken was in Jordan to confer with Arab foreign ministers on the ouster of the longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Dec. 14, 2024, 6:40 a.m. ET
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken was meeting on Saturday with Arab leaders in Jordan to discuss how to assist a political transition in Syria, nearly a week after rebels toppled the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad.
The abrupt demise of the Assad government has prompted celebrations in Syria along with uncertainty over how the new administration under a caretaker prime minister, Mohammed al-Bashir, can manage a transition in a country shattered by decades of war and repression.
It is a new upheaval in a region already reeling from more than a year of war and has set in motion a realignment with implications for Israel, Iran and Lebanon, as well as Russia, a stalwart ally of Mr. al-Assad.
Mr. Blinken was expected to meet in the coastal city of Aqaba with foreign ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt, as well as the secretary general of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, according to a statement by Jordan’s Foreign Ministry. Turkey, the United Nations and the European Union would also participate.
“The talks will focus on supporting a comprehensive, Syria-led political process aimed at achieving a transitional solution,” the Jordanian statement said. A later statement on Saturday said the meeting was about to begin. It made no mention of any Syrian representative to attend.
Turkey has emerged in recent days with greater influence, given its years of support for the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebel group that led the offensive out of its bases in the northwest in recent weeks to take power.
