(UPDATE) LONDON — Leaders of Western governments are "quietly optimistic" about the sudden transition in Syria, but the militant past of its new Islamist leaders has left foreign capitals looking for a strategy and remain worried about the future, analysts said.

The G7 countries will decide whether to support the transitional government of Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which spearheaded the ouster of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, at a virtual meeting on Friday.

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