G7 foreign ministers, allies discuss Syria

G7 foreign ministers, along with their counterparts from Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Qatar on Tuesday discussed the Syria conflict.

The meeting was convened in an extraordinary session to study the situation after the chemical attack allegedly by the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regime on April 4 against Jan Shijun in the northern province of Idlib that killed at least 87 people, Efe news reported.

On April 6, the US responded by launching 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian base in Shayrat, from where it believed the chemical attack had been carried out.

Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said Russia, along with the international community, must support a political transition in Syria to combat the rise of the terror group Islamic State (IS).

The G7 Preview agenda also includes other issues such as terrorism, instability in Libya and North Korea's possible nuclear and ballistic missile development programme.

The meeting of the ministers of the world's seven most industrialised countries, being held in the Italian city of Lucca, that started on Monday, will conclude on Tuesday with a press conference.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as well as foreign ministers of Italy, Germany, France, the UK, Japan, Canada and the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs are attending the meeting.

--IANS

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