French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, has said that foreign ministers from some of the countries engaged in military campaigns in Syria met on Monday in Paris.
Fabius, who received the ministers, said that they were from key allies which included Germany, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Italy, Qatar, Britain and Turkey, US Secretary of State John Kerry was also at the talks.
According to Fabius, the ministers will deliberate on the issues discussed at meeting held in Riyadh in December between opposition leaders, including secularist politicians tolerated by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and hardline Islamist rebel fighters.
Kerry had welcomed the outcome of that meeting which included consensus on principles for a pluralistic and democratic Syria and how to advance political settlement to end the conflict in Syria.
France, which had consistently said political transition in Syria could only take place with al-Assad’s ouster, also hailed the outcome of the meeting.
The ministers met in Paris in preparation for further meetings in New York later in the week.