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RIYADH: The foreign ministers of Middle Eastern countries, including ����ֱ��, affirmed their support for Syria’s security, unity, stability, and sovereignty in a joint statement issued on Thursday.

The Kingdom’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his counterparts from Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, and Turkiye held intensive talks on developments in Syria during the last two days.

The talks aimed to come up with a unified position and coordinate efforts to support the Syrian government in its efforts to rebuild Syria on foundations that guarantee its security, stability, unity, sovereignty, and the rights of all its citizens.

The foreign ministers welcomed the ceasefire reached to end the crisis in Sweida Governorate, and stressed the necessity of its implementation to protect Syria, its unity, and its citizens, prevent the shedding of Syrian blood, and ensure the protection of civilians and the rule of law.

They also welcomed Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa’s commitment to hold accountable all those responsible for violations against Syrian citizens in Sweida Governorate.

The ministers expressed support for all efforts to establish security and the rule of law in Sweida Governorate and throughout Syria.

They also condemned and rejected repeated Israeli attacks on Syria and said they are flagrant violations of international law and a blatant assault on Syria’s sovereignty which destabilizes its security, stability, and unity and undermines the government’s efforts to build a new Syria that achieves the aspirations and choices of its people.

They added that Syria’s security and stability are a pillar of regional security and stability and a shared priority.

The ministers called on the international community to support the Syrian government in its reconstruction process and called on the Security Council to assume its legal and moral responsibilities to ensure Israel’s full withdrawal from occupied Syrian territories, the cessation of all Israeli hostilities against Syria and interference in its affairs, and the implementation of Resolution 2766 and the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.

JUBA: South Sudan ‘s main opposition party on Thursday dismissed a presidential call for dialogue to avoid the country slipping back into a civil war due to stalled peace talks.

Pal Mai Deng, a spokesperson for the opposition SPLM-IO, said President Salva Kiir “must release political and military leaders of the SPLM-IO who are in detention to show his seriousness about the dialogue.”

During the reopening of parliament on Wednesday, Kiir said there was a need for unity and national reconciliation, adding that the “doors of peace remain open.”

“The suffering of our people must not be prolonged by the continued rejection of dialogue,” he said.

The situation in South Sudan remains tense after Vice President Riek Machar — Kiir’s former rival — was placed under house arrest following an attack on army bases in March. Several members of the SPLM-IO opposition party have gone into exile fearing arrests.

South Sudan signed a peace agreement in 2018, ending a five-year civil war in which nearly 400,000 people died as forces loyal to Kiir and Machar clashed.

Deng told The Associated Press that Kiir’s appeal was “paradoxical and insincere” due to the arrests of opposition officials and army attacks on opposition forces.

“Before he (Kiir) urged the parties to resume dialogue, he needed to stop military campaigns against SPLM-IO forces and indiscriminate killing of Nuer civilians he considered anti-government,” said the exiled spokesperson.

The CEPO civil society group has warned that Machar’s detention has made the continuation of talks impractical.

“The absence of Machar in the function of the government in day-to-day business of the government is making the government of national unity unbalanced,” Edmund Yakani, Executive Director of CEPO, said.

The United Nation warned last month that a 2018 peace agreement was on the verge of collapse due to escalating violence, political repression, and foreign military involvement.

Yasmin Sooka, chairperson of the UN’s Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, described the situation as a “crisis” adding that the peace agreement was at the “brink of irrelevance, threatening a total collapse.”