Aditi Bhaduri
India Narrative, May 20, 2023
“Syria’s re-admission to the Arab League is also symptomatic of the diminishing US influence in West Asia.”
On May 7, the League of Arab States admitted Syria back into its fold, following its suspension more than 12 years ago, after the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War. The move came in the wake of the Arab ministerial meeting in Amman, where foreign ministers from Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Syria itself. A liaison committee including Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia will follow up “the implementation of the Amman Declaration and to continue direct dialogue with the Syrian government to reach a comprehensive solution to the Syrian crisis that addresses all its consequences, according to a step-by-step methodology,” a statement issued by the Arab League said.
Syria had been thrown out of the Arab League in 2011 following the government’s military confrontation against protestors at a time when the so called “Arab Spring” was sweeping across the region, and which sparked a brutal fratricidal war resulting in the deaths of at least half a million people and the displacement of millions of others, generating a staggering refugee crisis.
The move also comes after the March 2023 China brokered peace deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and which must have eased the path towards Syria’s rehabilitation as during the civil war Iran supported the Bashar Al Assad headed Syrian government while Saudi Arabia and other Arab states supported opposition and rebel fighters, some of whom are today identified as terrorist groups proscribed by the United Nations.
Following the Iran-Saudi truce, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad visited Saudi Arabia, on the first such visit since the start of the Syrian war, which was soon followed up by a reciprocal visit by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan to Damascus. Saudi Arabia has also invited President Bashar Al Assad to the kingdom to attend the 19th May Arab League summit meet to be held in Jeddah.
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