Lebanon's Prime Minister Ziad Makary will visit Damascus "soon", the information minister announced Tuesday, in the first such visit by the country's leadership since Islamist-led rebels seized

The French and German foreign ministers have met Syria’s new leaders and called for an inclusive transition of power, in the first visit by European Union ministers to Syria since the Assad regime fell in December.

Top diplomats from Germany and France went to Damascus on behalf of the European Union. It’s the first such trip in years, part of a flurry of Western outreach.

Ministers from Syria's transitional government urged the United States to lift its sanctions on Damascus during their first visit to Qatar since overthrowing president Bashar al-Assad.

The foreign ministers from Germany and France visited the notorious Sednaya prison near Damascus on Friday, a symbol of the brutal rule under deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot were shown the prison at the start of their visit to Syria for talks with the transitional government formed by militant groups that drove al-Assad from the country about four weeks ago.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is due to meet the French and German foreign ministers on Friday, in the highest-level visit by major Western powers under the new authorities in Damascus.Since his ouster,

"These sanctions constitute a barrier and an obstacle to the rapid recovery and development of the Syrian people who await services and partnerships from other countries," Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said after meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as foreign minister.