Syria rejoins the Arab League after an 11-year absence
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Hashim Sheikh
- . May 8, 2023
- . Update: May 8, 2023 8:36 pm
After more than ten years of suspension, the Arab League reinstated Syria’s government on Sunday, ensuring President Bashar Al-Assad’s return to the Arab fold after a period in exile.
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As a result of a resolution made by all of the Arab League’s foreign ministers, government delegations from Syria “will resume their participation in Arab League meetings” as of this coming Sunday.
At the ministerial gathering held at the league’s headquarters in Cairo, Prince Faisal bin Farhan of Saudi Arabia took part.
The ministers “consulted and exchanged views on the efforts made to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis that ends its repercussions and preserves Syria’s unity, security, and stability, and Arab identity; returns it to its Arab surroundings, to achieve the good of its brotherly people,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.
Assad will be able to attend the next Arab League summit on May 19 thanks to the decision, according to a statement made by Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit in a televised announcement. It claimed to be a step towards the conflict’s eventual resolution.
Contrary to what he claimed, “this doesn’t mean that the Syria crisis has been resolved.” But it enables the Arab (states) to speak with the Syrian government for the first time in years to address all the issues.
Additionally, Aboul Gheit noted that regaining Syria’s membership did not imply that other Arab nations had bilaterally restored ties with Damascus.
The restoration of Syria to the organization was “the beginning… not the end of the issue,” he continued, emphasizing that it was up to individual nations to determine whether to restore diplomatic relations with Damascus.
The League of Arab States council praised the Arab declarations made during the meetings in Jeddah on April 14 and Amman on May 1, 2023, both of which focused on Syria.
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The Amman Declaration calls for a “step-by-step” resolution to the Syrian crisis, and the council also decided to establish a ministerial committee made up of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, and the secretary-general of the league to monitor its implementation. This committee will also continue direct communication with the regime.
