Top diplomats from US, Arab League and Turkey agree need for 'inclusive' Syria govt

Arab, Western and Turkish diplomats agreed in talks in Jordan Saturday on the need for an "inclusive" government in Syria following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Blinken told reporters that the talks would issue a joint statement in which "we agreed that the transition process should be Syrian-led and Syrian-owned and produce an inclusive and representative government".

The collapse of the Assad family’s more than half-century of rule has sparked new fears of instability in a region already shaken by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and hostilities between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah despite a tenuous ceasefire.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said American officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian insurgent group that led the overthrow of Assad’s government, but the group continues to be designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and others.

The insurgent leader in an interview with Syrian TV didn't mention contact with the U.S. but warned Israel about the hundreds of airstrikes it has carried out in Syria in the past week.

The U.S. is also making a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza, where the war has plunged more than 2 million Palestinians into a severe humanitarian crisis.