US, regional diplomats urge respect for minorities in Syria after Assad, Blinken says

Top diplomats from the United States, Turkey, the European Union and Arab nations have agreed that a new government in Syria should respect minority rights, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday following talks in Jordan and direct contacts with the rebels who ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

The meetings occurred as regional and global powers scramble for influence over whatever government replaces Assad, forced to flee a week ago.

Blinken said at a news conference that the group had agreed on a joint communique that also calls for an inclusive and representative government that respects the rights of minorities and does not offer "a base for terrorist groups".

The joint statement also "affirmed the full support for Syria’s unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty," a comment that appeared aimed at Israel, which has moved into Syria beyond a previously agreed buffer zone since Assad fell.

"Today's agreement sends a unified message to the new interim authority and parties in Syria on the principles crucial to securing much needed support and recognition," Blinken said.

Blinken also said U.S. officials had now had "direct contact" with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and had urged them and other rebel groups to assist with locating U.S. journalist Austin Tice, who was detained in Syria in 2012. The U.S. has also shared with actors in Syria what it wants to see from the country's transition, he added.

Syria's neighbour Jordan was hosting Saturday's gathering in Aqaba. Russia and Iran, who were Assad's key supporters, were not invited.

Blinken, U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan and foreign ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar met around a circular table at a Jordanian government guesthouse. There was no Syrian representative at the table.

The Arab diplomats earlier met separately and issued a statement calling for a peaceful and inclusive political transition that leads towards elections and a new constitution.

Arab diplomats attending the talks told Reuters they were seeking assurances from Turkey that it supported this, as well as preventing the partition of Syria on sectarian lines.

Turkey and the United States, both NATO members, have conflicting interests when it comes to some of the rebels. Turkish-backed rebels in northern Syria have clashed with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The SDF, which controls some of Syria's largest oil fields, is the main ally in a U.S. coalition against Islamic State militants. It is spearheaded by YPG militia, a group that Ankara sees as an extension of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years and who it outlaws.

Blinken told Turkish officials during a visit to Ankara on Thursday and Friday that Islamic State must not be able to regroup, and the SDF must not be distracted from its role of securing camps holding IS fighters, according to a U.S. official. Turkish leaders agreed, the official with the U.S. delegation said.

Fidan told Turkish TV later on Friday that the elimination of the YPG was Turkey's "strategic target" and urged the group's commanders to leave Syria.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis and Suleiman Al-Khalidi; additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington;Editing by Diane Craft, Giles Elgood and Mark Potter)