Italian FM tours landmark mosque in first Syria visit

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani began his first official visit to post-Assad Syria on Friday with a tour of the landmark Umayyad mosque in Damascus.

"It's a great pleasure... to be here this morning to visit and pay homage to all Syrian believers," he told AFP from the mosque, which is about 1,300 years old and he described as "one of the most beautiful" in the world.

He is expected to meet Syria's de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa and his counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani at the presidential palace later in the morning.

Sharaa heads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Islamist group that spearheaded the rebel offensive that ousted president Bashar al-Assad last month, ending more than five decades of his family's repressive rule.

Tajani arrived after hosting talks with European counterparts and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rome, where Tajani said they are seeking a "stable and united Syria".

The Italian minister has said he plans to announce an initial development aid package for impoverished, sanctions-hit and war-battered Syria.