bir yıl önce

Arab League FMs meet on cards with Sudan, Syria on agenda

The meeting will take place ahead of an Arab League summit in Jeddah on May 19, which aims to end the long-standing diplomatic freeze between Syrian regime and Arab nations and address violence in Sudan.

Reuters

Last month, Arab Gulf foreign ministers meeting along with their counterparts from Egypt, Iraq and Jordan, discussed the Syria crisis and Damascus' possible return to the Arab League. / Photo: Reuters

Arab League foreign ministers are scheduled to hold emergency meetings on Sunday regarding the conflict in Sudan and Syrian regime's readmission to the bloc, according to a diplomat.

The diplomat told AFP on Thursday, on condition of anonymity, that the foreign ministers will be meeting ahead of the Jeddah summit scheduled on May 19, where leaders of Arab nations will come together and are likely to welcome Syrian regime leader Bashar al Assad back into the Arab League fold.

Last month. Assad met Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Damascus, ending over a decade long diplomatic deep-freeze.

The trip came less than a week after Syrian regime Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad visited Saudi Arabia, also on the first such visit since the conflict began.

Sensitive issue

Assad's regime has been politically isolated in the region since the conflict began, but a flurry of diplomatic activity has been underway in the past week as regional relations shift following a decision by Saudi Arabia and Damascus's ally Iran to resume ties.

Earlier, Arab Gulf foreign ministers meeting in Jeddah, along with their counterparts from Egypt, Iraq and Jordan, have discussed the Syria crisis and Damascus' possible return to the Arab League but no decision was taken, according to a statement by the Saudi Foreign Ministry.

Arab diplomats however agreed that the region must play a "leading role" in efforts to broker a solution to Syria's crisis, the Saudi ministry said.

The diplomats discussed the "importance of having an Arab leadership role in efforts to end the crisis", the ministry statement added.

Some Arab states, including regional heavyweights Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, have mended ties with Damascus, in contrast to 2011 when many Western and Arab states boycotted Syria's al Assad in 2011 over his brutal crackdown on protests.

However, Syria's broader normalisation with the Arab world remains a sensitive issue for several countries.

Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said the original basis for the 2011 suspension of Syria's membership in the Arab League still stands.

Syria's civil war has killed more than half a million people and forced about half of Syria's pre-war population from their homes.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies