Arab foreign ministers hold Syria talks in Cairo: The top diplomats of Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq met in Cairo yesterday for a round of talks aimed at bringing an end to Syria’s 12-year civil war. In a joint statement, the countries’ foreign ministers said they discussed mechanisms for the safe return of the mns of Syrian refugees who have fled the conflict into neighboring countries, and ending terrorism and narcotics trafficking in the country.

Remember: Syria was welcomed back into the Arab League earlier this year, 12 years after it was kicked out for its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, paving the way for renewed diplomatic efforts to find a political solution to end the conflict. Saudi Arabia also restored diplomatic ties with Damascus, part of a region-wide series of rapprochements which has seen Riyadh and Tehran, and Egypt and Turkey reappoint ambassadors.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shouky met with several of his counterparts on the sidelines of the meeting: Shoukry met yesterday with the chief diplomats of Syria and Saudi Arabia separately, and held a joint meeting with the foreign ministers of Iraq and Jordan.

Palestine talks were on the table in Egypt-Saudi meeting: Shoukry and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan discussed the outcomes of Monday’s meeting between the leaders of Egypt, Palestine and Jordan in El Alamein. Saudi Arabia recently appointed its first-ever envoy to Palestine amid growing media chatter of a US-sponsored rapprochement between Riyadh and Israel.

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