PARIS, Feb 13, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani is to attend an international conference in Paris on Thursday on the political transition after Islamist-led rebels seized power from president Bashar al-Assad in December.

The trip will be the first such official visit to Europe for talks by the top diplomat of post-Assad Syria after he attended the World Economic Forum in Davos in January.

Envoys from Syria's northern neighbour Turkey, which backed the group that ousted Assad, and several Gulf nations are also to attend the event to discuss security and economic challenges to rebuilding the country.

The Group of 7 -- made up of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States -- was also to send representatives.

The Paris conference aims to focus on protecting Syria from destabilising foreign interference, to coordinate aid efforts, and to send messages to the new Syrian government, several diplomatic sources said.

There has been concern among Western governments over the direction the new Syrian leadership will take in particular on religious freedom, women's rights and the status of the Kurdish minority in the northeast of Syria.

French President Emmanuel Macron is also due to speak to representatives at the conference, expected to begin around 1330 GMT.

- More sanctions relief? -

The new authorities in Damascus, headed by interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, have sought to reassure Syrians and the international community that they have broken with their jihadist past and will respect the rights of minorities.

They have been lobbying the West to lift sanctions -- especially on the financial sector -- to allow the country to rebuild its economy after almost 14 years of civil war.

EU foreign ministers agreed on January 27 to ease sanctions on Syria, starting with key sectors such as energy. Shaibani at the time welcomed the European Union's move "to suspend sanctions on Syria for one year".

The decision came after the United States eased its own sanctions, allowing fuel and electricity donations to Syria for six months.

Shaibani announced on Wednesday that a new government would take over next month from the interim cabinet formed after Assad's overthrow, vowing that it would represent all Syrians in their diversity.

Sharaa has received a flurry of dignitaries since the start of the year, including foreign ministers from France, Germany and Italy.

Syria's war has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions from their homes inside the country and abroad since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.