Paris to host Syria crisis meeting with allies

France will host a meeting on the Syria crisis with Western and Arab allies later on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.

The "working dinner" at the French foreign ministry will include "the main partners engaged with France in dealing with the Syrian crisis: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Turkey, Germany, the United States, Italy and Britain," Fabius said in a statement.

"They will discuss the means to bring about a political transition towards a united and democratic Syria, respectful of all communities, while also reinforcing our fight against terrorism," he added.

Tuesday's meeting will feature mainly lower-rung officials, with the United States sending its deputy secretary of state Tony Blinken in the place of his boss, John Kerry.

Britain said it was "unlikely" that Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond would take part.

France was not included in four-way talks on Syria between Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey which took place on Friday.

A Russian spokesman said those four countries were working on organising another possible meeting this Friday in Vienna.

Fabius said last week that France is working towards presenting a draft UN Security Council resolution to stop President Bashar al-Assad's regime from using barrel bombs.

It remains highly unlikely that Russia, Syria's ally, would allow such a measure, which comes amid Western criticism of Moscow's dramatic intervention in the war to support Assad.

Source: AFP