Syria takes part in the first meeting of the Arab League in 11 years

Syria ended more than a decade of diplomatic isolation in the Arab League this Monday by participating in the preparatory meeting of the organization’s summit on Friday in Saudi Arabia.

“Welcome the Syrian Arab Republic to the Arab League,” Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said at a meeting of the Arab League’s Economic and Social Council that began on Sunday in Jeddah in preparation for the 32nd Arab League. 1st Arab League Summit, broadcast live on Al-Ekhbariya State Television.

This is the first time Syrian officials have attended an Arab League meeting since November 2011, when a pan-Arab organization suspended the regime of President Bashar al-Assad due to a violent crackdown on protests that escalated into a conflict that has left more than 500,000 dead and millions displaced.

In the regional context of diplomatic rapprochement, the League restored the Syrian regime on the 7th of this month. Three days later, on May 10, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman invited the Syrian president to attend the annual summit on Friday in this coastal city on the Red Sea.

It is also the first participation of a Syrian president since the summit was held in Libya in 2010.

The regional capitals have gradually moved closer to Assad, who has retained power and regained lost territories with decisive support from Iran and Russia, although large areas in northern Syria remain outside government control.

In April, diplomats from nine Arab countries discussed the Syrian crisis in Saudi Arabia, and the region’s five foreign ministers, including Syria, met earlier this month in Jordan.

The UAE, which re-established ties with Syria in 2018, has been very active in seeking Damascus’ return to the League.

Diplomatic activity resumed with greater depth following the deadly earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey on 6 February.

Last week, Riyadh, which severed ties with the Syrian government in 2012, confirmed that diplomatic missions in Syria and Saudi Arabia would reopen. However, some countries are reluctant to renew relations with al-Assad, including Qatar, which has refused to normalize relations with the Syrian government.

On the other hand, al-Assad was invited by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the UN climate conference (COP 28) hosted by Abu Dhabi,

It is also the first time Assad has been invited to an international summit, usually attended by the heads of several Western states, since the start of the war in Syria in 2011.

This Monday, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit said that the return of Syria could revive the “principle of Arab solidarity”, according to his deputy, “number two” of Hossam Zaki’s organization. .

But the positive atmosphere [gerada pelo fim de alguns diferendos] should not distract us from the reality that the Arab region has seen over the years, namely the accumulation and series of serious challenges,” said Abul Gheit.

Among them, he added, referring to the war in Sudan, is a “new wave” of migration that has already caused some 200,000 people to flee and hundreds of thousands more to move. The conflict is expected to be one of the main topics of discussion at the summit on Friday.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sudanese army and one of the two belligerents at the center of the conflict, was invited to the Arab League heads of state summit but did not specify who would represent Sudan at the meeting.

Representatives of al-Burhan and his opponent General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been in Jeddah for more than a week for talks mediated by Saudi Arabia and the United States.

At the meeting and during a speech, Syrian Foreign Minister Mohammad Samer al-Khalil invited Arab countries to invest in Syria “at a time when there are promising opportunities and attractive new laws for investment.”