Syria's new rulers seek aid boost at EU conference

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The interim government in Damascus will take part on Monday in an annual international conference to gather aid pledges for Syria, facing dire humanitarian problems and an uncertain political transition after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

The conference has been hosted by the European Union in Brussels since 2017 - but took place without the government of Assad, who was shunned for his brutal actions in a civil war that began in 2011.

After Assad's overthrow in December, EU officials hope to use the conference as a fresh start, despite concerns about deadly violence this month that pitted the new, Islamist rulers against Assad loyalists.

"This is a time of dire needs and challenges for Syria, as tragically evidenced by the recent wave of violence in coastal areas," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

But she said it was also "a time of hope", citing an agreement struck on March 10 to integrate the Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which control much of Syria's northeast, into new state institutions.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group that toppled Assad, is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations. But EU officials want to engage with the new rulers as long as they stick to pledges to make the transition inclusive and peaceful.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani is expected to take part in the event, along with dozens of European and Arab ministers and representatives of international organisations.

EU officials say the conference is particularly important as the United States under President Donald Trump is making huge cutbacks to humanitarian and development aid programmes.

Last year's conference yielded pledges of 7.5 billion euros ($8.1 billion) in grants and loans, with the EU pledging 2.12 billion for 2024 and 2025.

About 16.5 million people in Syria require humanitarian assistance, with 12.9 million people needing food aid, according to the EU.

The destruction from the war has been compounded by an economic crisis that has sent the Syrian pound tumbling and pushed almost the entire population below the poverty line.

($1 = 0.9192 euros)

(Editing by Andrew Gray and Kevin Liffey)