Arab League readmits Syria as ties normalise

Cairo, May 7

Arab League foreign ministers adopted a decision to readmit Syria after more than a decade of suspension on Sunday, a League spokesperson said, consolidating a regional push to normalise ties with President Bashar al-Assad.

The decision said Syria could resume its participation in Arab League meetings immediately, while calling for a resolution of the crisis resulting from Syria’s civil war, including the flight of refugees to neighbouring countries and drug smuggling across the region. It was taken at a closed meeting of foreign ministers at the Arab League’s headquarters in Cairo, said Gamal Roshdy, spokesman for the Arab League’s secretary general.

Assad may attend summit ‘if he wishes to’

• “The Syrian President can attend an Arab League summit later this month if he wishes to”, Arab League’s Ahmed Aboul Gheit said
• Syria, starting from this evening, is a full member of the bloc, and from tomorrow they have the right to occupy any seat, he said

While Arab states including the United Arab Emirates have pushed for Syria and Assad’s rehabilitation, others, including Qatar, have remained opposed to full normalisation without a political solution to the Syrian conflict.

Some have been keen to set conditions for Syria’s return, with Jordan’s foreign minister saying last week that the Arab League’s reacceptance of Syria would only be the start of “a very long and difficult and challenging process”.

Sunday’s decision said Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and the Arab League’s Secretary General would form a ministerial contact group to liaise with the Syrian government and seek “step-by-step” solutions to the crisis.

Practical steps included continuing efforts to facilitate the delivery of aid in Syria, according to a copy of the decision. — Reuters