British diplomats hold talks in Damascus on Syria's future

A British delegation, including the UK's special representative for Syria, Anne Snow, met with Ahmed al-Shara', after the British Foreign Secretary, David Lamy, announced that a delegation had been sent for talks with the Interim Authority in Syria.

During the meeting, the 2 sides discussed what Syria could be, the sanctions file imposed on it, and the humanitarian and economic support for the country.

Lamy announced on Sunday that his country was in diplomatic contact with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in Syria and had sent a high-level delegation to Damascus to meet with the interim authority.

"Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham remains a banned terrorist organisation in the UK, but we can have diplomatic contacts with it, so we have contacts aimed specifically at ensuring the establishment of a representative government and securing chemical weapons stockpiles in Syria," Lamy told British media.

"We want to see a representative government, an inclusive government, we want to see chemical weapons stockpiles secured and not used, and we want to ensure that violence does not continue," he said.

A French delegation is scheduled to travel to Damascus today for talks on Syria, the French Foreign Ministry announced yesterday.

Sh-S

ANHA