Cairo hosts meeting on Syria

PanARMENIAN.Net - Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran will pursue contacts on a solution to Syria's conflict after launching talks in Cairo that grouped one ally and three opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, a senior diplomat said on Tuesday, Sept 11, according to Reuters.

The diplomat, who was involved in the talks, did not elaborate on further gatherings. But Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr had said shortly before the discussions on Monday evening that delegates would prepare for a ministerial meeting in Cairo in "coming days".

Iran's Fars news agency said that Tehran, one of the Syrian president's few remaining allies as he battles to crush a popular rebellion, proposed expanding the group to include Iraq and Venezuela.

Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim-led government has pointedly not joined calls by Sunni Muslim-ruled Arab states for Assad, whose Alawite sect is related to Shi'ism, to step down, while Venezuela's stance on Syria reflects its close ties with Iran.

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi had called for the quartet to meet as part of efforts to bring together regional players to end the bloodshed in Syria, where Sunni-led insurgents are seeking to end four decades of rule by Assad and his family.

Analysts are skeptical that any tangible agreement on action can be reached between Iran, a staunch supporter of Assad, and the three other states which have all called for him to quit.